What's missing in your annual report?

Safe Work Australia commends Aurora Energy, winner of the Work Health and Safety Reporting Award at this year’s Australasian Reporting Awards (ARA) held earlier this month in Sydney, and urges all organisations to integrate work health and safety (WHS) performance into their annual report this year.

For the sixth consecutive year, Aurora was recognised in this category, which is sponsored by Safe Work Australia. Safe Work Australia Acting Chief Executive Officer Michelle Baxter is encouraging businesses of all sizes to include WHS reporting in their annual report and enter the ARA awards in 2015.

“Congratulations and thank you to Aurora Energy for recognising the value of making work health and safety a fundamental part of your annual report,” said Baxter.

“Aurora is showcasing to organisations of all sizes, across a variety of industries, that work health and safety is more than a generic slogan and the positive impact that good work health and safety has on an organisation’s bottom line.

“It’s not too late to make work health and safety an essential part of this year’s annual report and reap the many benefits, including recognition at a national level.”

In receiving the award for work health and safety reporting excellence, Aurora Energy Chief Executive Officer Dr Peter Davis said the company felt privileged to have won the award for six consecutive years.

“We have had a roller-coaster ride with our safety performance during this period, and there were some years where we were extremely disappointed with our results,” said Dr Davis.

“It’s important to be open and honest about the reasons behind poor performance and, most importantly, to outline how we will address them. Our commitment to transparent reporting helps us to drive process improvements and cultural change with our employees and gives our shareholders confidence in our strategic direction.

“We thank the ARA and Safe Work Australia for honouring best reporting practice in this vital area of any company’s operations.”

The awards provide an opportunity for organisations to benchmark their reports against the ARA criteria and are open to all organisations that produce an annual report. Entries for next year’s award open in September. A full list of the 2014 winners and the criteria for entering the Work Health and Safety Reporting Award can be found at www.arawards.com.au.