About our business
We are Australia and New Zealand's leading supplier of industrial and safety consumables. We provide engineering products and industrial consumables, safety, packaging, materials handling, lifting products and services, and industrial, medical and specialty gases to industry and government. We operate a multi-channel distribution model that includes a network of branches, sales representatives, e-business, websites and telesales.

With 219 outlets and 121 gas distribution points, we trade in Australia as Blackwoods (incorporating Blackwoods Electrical and Bakers Construction and Industrial), Protector Alsafe, Bullivants, Total Fasteners, and Coregas. In New Zealand, we trade as Blackwoods Paykels Protector, Packaging House, NZ Safety and Safety Source. As at 30 June 2011 we employed 3,529 people (including casual employees).

Year in review
The pursuit of outcomes that are socially and environmentally responsible, while being economically viable, continues to be our focus. Key sustainable outcomes during the reporting period included:

• the introduction of 66 fuel efficient hybrid vehicles
• the continued implementation of safety projects such as forklift safety, goods stored at height, work in remote areas and pre-employment functional assessments
• using third party certified paper for regular marketing publications and internal use
• continuing The Fred Hollows Foundation partnership with contributions of more than $100,000
• a 16 per cent reduction in printing per million dollars of revenue from the 2009 baseline
• an immediate response by employees to the floods and cyclones in Australia and earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Material issues
As a supplier of industrial and safety consumables, our material issues are:

• the sustainability of the supply chain, including ethical labour standards and the environmental impacts of manufacturing products
• the safety and diversity of our people and our own operational environmental impact including greenhouse gas emissions and waste
• delivering safe and sustainable products and services to customers on time to help them meet their business objectives.

People
Safety continued to be a focus for the business through implementation of the following projects:

• Improved forklift driver training and a successful pilot of technology solutions, such as swipe card access, monitoring operator licences, impact sensors, speed limits, and reporting to improve forklift safety
• Improved safety for employees working in remote areas with vehicles now equipped with two spare tyres, long range fuel tanks, emergency beacons, overhead lights, bull bars, spotlights, recovery winches, fire extinguishers, dual batteries, two way radios, visibility flags, snorkels, and satellite navigation systems
• Revision of the safe operating procedure for goods stored at height to reduce risk.

The safety culture was reinforced with the number of internal safety audits increasing by 19 per cent for the reporting period compared to the previous period, including 51 audits by the executive leadership team.

Total hours worked increased by 14 per cent, which contributed to an increase in total injuries and our LTIFR increased to 2.34 compared to 1.61 for the previous reporting period. However, the severity rate improved to 38.39, down from 47.85 for the previous reporting period, and the Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) improved to 27.78 from 29.10 for the previous reporting period.

We continued to support employees with training and development during the reporting period including:

• 1,236 instructor-led training courses that covered sales, first aid, forklift, hazard management and safety training
• 35 managers participating in residential regional and branch manager development programs
• 108 employees completed Certificate III and IV in Transport and Logistics programs with a further 77 employees currently enrolled.

Bullivants also introduced a technical service representative accreditation system. Bullivants' inspectors make decisions on whether lifting or rigging equipment is fit for purpose, and this accreditation system gives customers confidence in the qualifications of our inspectors. The accreditation system also provides a pathway for employees pursuing technical skills.

Diversity
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy progressed with assistance from the steering committee to improve cultural awareness within our business. During the year, employee induction materials were updated with cultural awareness content and a 'Welcome to Country' was held at the official opening of the new Protector Alsafe Mackay branch.

Blackwoods contributed more than $100,000 to The Fred Hollows Foundation by donating a percentage of sales from the Foresight range of products. Five employees visited communities in the Northern Territory to participate in The Fred Hollows Foundation programs, such as health, literacy, nutrition, and development training programs. As part of the 'Jawun' secondment program, one employee helped the Wyndham Early Learning Activity Centre in the East Kimberley obtain funding. Blackwoods is also a major sponsor of training programs to help indigenous people obtain skills necessary for employment in the mining industry in partnership with BHP Billiton Olympic Dam and Xceptional Recruitment.

Environment
We introduced 66 energy efficient hybrid vehicles into our fleet to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions during the reporting period. An internal working group was established to identify energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, which resulted in the implementation of a pilot project for efficient warehouse lighting. We worked with Low Carbon Australia, an independent company created by the Australian Government, to identify lights that meet the objectives of energy efficiency, light quality and cost.

Our printing per million dollars of revenue decreased by 16 per cent since 2009 through the introduction of wireless warehousing, electronic transactions with customers and suppliers, and operational print reduction initiatives. Third party certified paper is now used for marketing publications and internal use. We also implemented cardboard balers to improve recycling at our NSW distribution centre.

To help our customers be more sustainable we developed a range of waste management and recycling signs. The signs are made from 50 per cent recycled plastic and can also be recycled. The sustainability attributes of products, which have been verified with third party certification, are now promoted on the Blackwoods website.

Governance
We remain committed to ensuring that our businesses and suppliers are compliant with appropriate legislation and our values. The Australian and New Zealand supplier survey in 2011 was reviewed to assist us in better managing risks in ethical sourcing, dangerous goods, safety, trade practices legislation and other sustainability risks. In addition, we continued to work with our international suppliers to improve the sustainability of our sourced products by auditing all our major Asian suppliers of our own branded products.

In addition, Bullivants successfully completed an audit program to demonstrate compliance to management standards for quality (ISO 9000), environment (ISO 14001) and safety (AS 4801).

Community
During the year, we continued to support a number of key partners and community groups, with a total direct contribution in Australia and New Zealand of more than $380,000 and an indirect contribution of over $930,000. Direct contributions included $50,000 passed directly to organisations contributing to Queensland flood relief.

We also facilitated the delivery of over $870,000 of suppliers' products, which included industrial, safety and cleaning products for use by emergency services and volunteers.

Additionally, Protector Alsafe continued to support the KIDS Foundation in Australia, which promotes childhood injury prevention, with fundraising activities for Injury Free Day and donations of over $30,000. Coregas continued to sponsor the Tradesperson of the Year award through the Welding Technology Industry Association in Australia. In New Zealand, we supported the Cancer Society, Surf Life Saving New Zealand, and continued to support a breeding program for the endangered Hihi bird at Tiritiri Matang Island, New Zealand.