The safety and well-being of our people and our communities is fundamental to ScottishPower. Through continual vigilance in health, safety and the management of risks, our goal is simple – to do all we can to ensure our operations cause no harm, either from work-related accidents or illness.

ScottishPower’s health and safety performance has shown improvement, with Lost Time Accidents in 2007 over 20% lower than they were 5 years ago, and sound progress in occupational health. In contrast, the UK electricity industry as a whole had a difficult year, with a higher level of fatalities and the highest number of accidents for many years.

Good health and safety performance is intrinsic to a well-run business, a productive workforce and ultimately the financial and social wellbeing of our communities. This is a view shared by many fund managers, who scrutinise the health and safety performance of companies when assessing potential investment opportunities.

There is no secret to good health and safety. It is about managing risks, making sure that we have safe, robust plant and working practices and putting in place all the necessary safeguards. Most of all, it has to be a shared commitment from everyone in an organisation to working safely and responsibly – and making health and safety part of the everyday workplace experience.