Health & Safety

We value the well being and safety of our staff and have in place an ongoing and comprehensive health and safety programme.

Training is provided for new employees, both at induction briefings and in-house training programmes. Staff who are involved in construction and site operational work are given additional specific training appropriate to their activities.

Opus also has a rehabilitation programme, which is tailored to the individual and specific needs of any injured employees.  This is developed in consultation with the individual employee to support their timely and safe return to the work place.

Our health and safety performance is reviewed on a regular basis and given coverage in team briefs and through the Chief Executive’s Newsletters.  In New Zealand, we are part of the Workplace Safety Management Practices scheme operated by the Accident Compensation Corporation.

The company’s lost time/injury accident record over the past five years is shown in the table below:

We began recording Lost Time Incidents (LTI’s) in 2009 and three were recorded (Australia: 1, New Zealand: 1, and United Kingdom: 1) during 2009. We have adopted the following definition of an LTI – where the injured person leaves work, and, because of the injury, does not return to normal duties at the start of the next working day.

In 2009 we sought to encourage the recognition and reporting of all near miss incidents. Recognising the importance of recording a near miss incident ensures a good safety culture. We set a target that the number of near miss incidents recorded  should be 15% of all incidents. This target was easily met and demonstrates the awareness and appreciation of health and safety matters has risen.