Health & safety
Liberty International places the highest importance on the Health and Safety (”H&S”) of its employees, occupiers and shoppers. We are committed to delivering high standards across all aspects of our operations and are acutely aware of the paramount need to offer our shopping public a secure and safe environment in which to shop. Every practical step is taken to achieve this objective and we work with the local police and industry bodies to ensure we respond to heightened security alerts.Our H&S policy is overseen by the Board and implemented through an H&S management system which promotes a strong culture of safety consciousness across the organisation. Currently, we have three H&S Committees comprising representatives from all levels of the business. The roles of the committee are to review new legislation, oversee H&S progress and review a full accident report. Additionally, an H&S Forum is established in each shopping centre.
We continue to work to ensure that the disabled facilities in our properties meet the requirements of our shoppers and occupiers. We upgrade our facilities whenever possible and we believe all our premises are DDA compliant. Asbestos Management Plans are in place in all properties; external audits have been undertaken and all recorded asbestos is now confined to “low risk”.
We have a programme of H&S awareness training; such issues form part of our induction procedures and are reinforced through additional job related courses. Members of the committees are expected to undertake training to a level of knowledge in H&S matters sufficient for their particular role.
Monitoring
The findings from the 2006 review of our H&S management and reporting processes to the Board, have been consolidated into the policies and procedures. As potential issues arise through the monitoring process, we review the factors surrounding them and modify procedures accordingly. If there is an underlying issue, brought about by changes in statute, case-law or best-practice thinking, we amend the policies accordingly. The process of more formal reporting at more regular intervals has streamlined our ability to incorporate necessary changes.Reporting of urgent or serious matters is, as before, through line management to the Board as and when an incident arises. We believe that we comply with all relevant legislation and have processes in place to monitor any future changes to enable adequate advanced planning. Staff at our directly managed UK shopping centres have access to an on-line database maintained by our specialist advisors to keep them fully aware of forthcoming changes in legislation.
In our building contracts we now request that contractors provide details of “near-misses” to ensure that we are able to identify potential problems before they become a reality. During 2008 we have applied more rigorous reporting processes at the directly managed shopping centres to ensure a more robust monitoring system is in place.
Performance
Our performance is monitored by independent external advisers. With over 229 million customer visits per annum to our shopping centres plus those at Covent Garden, minor “slips and trips” inevitably occur, reportable (RIDDOR) accidents for 2008 have increased to 44, including third-party service providers (2007 – 20). Following each incident the area in which the accident occurred is checked to make it safe and reduce the risk of further accidents. An investigation is under taken to determine the cause of the accident and any actions that could be implemented to avoid similar accidents occurring.In respect of our 292 UK employees there were no reportable accidents (2007 – 0). This is encouraging, but we are not complacent and our target remains to continue to work to maintain the low level of incidents. During the same period, there have been 5 reportable incidents involving staff employed by our third-party service providers (included in the figures above). The contractors investigate and report incidents direct to the Health & Safety Executive, but we work with them to investigate the circumstances that have occurred to reduce the risk of further accidents, in the same way as for members of the public.
External contractors engaged at our shopping centres and other properties, including those engaged by tenants, are required to provide full details of their competence to undertake the work before being granted a “permit to work” by our management team.
An external consultant carries out annual review visits to all directly managed UK shopping centres and, in addition, unannounced visits are undertaken in order to audit the due diligence file and to check that the interactive web-based H&S management system is being operated properly.
Business Partnerships
Businesses with whom we work, or in which we have invested, have their own H&S programmes.We stress our commitment to H&S matters to our partners and seek to work with them to achieve compliance with best practice. We want to ensure that the high standards we set ourselves are reflected in all our business activities.
It is our intention during 2009 to continue our liaison programme with business partners to share our experiences and add to our mutual understanding of H&S best practice.
