Recognising the importance of commitment to excellence in health and safety and sound environmental stewardship, our Chief Executive has assumed responsibility at Board level for these issues and established an Environment, Health and Safety team as a Group support for our operations.

We are developing a system for collecting key health and safety data on a uniform basis across our worldwide businesses. Whilst information is not yet available globally, in the US — which accounts for 32% of our workforce — we track performance every month. Last year, workers. compensation claims in the US reduced by 25% to below 1,500 and costs by 7% to under £4 million ($6 million).

We deeply regret to report a fatality when an experienced employee suffered a severe electrical shock when carrying out tests in a high voltage area at Lambda EMI, New Jersey. We have taken appropriate remedial action and are co-operating fully with the US Occupational Safety and Health Authority.

Since standards of health and safety depend on skilled individuals working within a framework of policies and practices, we are committed to providing the necessary training to instil and maintain high levels of safety awareness. In Control Systems, on-site employee training in the US last year resulted in 2,700 modules completed and is continuing this year. Our facility in Pawtucket, Rhode Island introduced the Supervisor Training in Accident Reduction Techniques (START) programme and trained 40 team leaders, supervisors and managers.

During the past year, no reports have been received of serious breaches of health and safety regulations. Six sites in the US received notices of minor breaches from the Occupational Safety and Health Authority, with penalties totalling under £7,000 ($10,000). All defects have been rectified.