Protecting People
Worker safety is critically important in everything we do. Raytheon's safety programs are driven by a strong commitment from top-level management, and safety practices are a core component of every business. Leaders and employees at all levels are actively involved and held accountable for fulfilling their safety responsibilities.
Raytheon has made significant progress toward the ultimate goal of an injury-free workplace by implementing world-class safety programs and processes. Since 1998, we have reduced our Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injury rate by 75 percent and our lost workday injury rate by 66 percent. For 2007, our OSHA recordable injury rate was 0.77 per 100 employees, and our lost workday injury rate was 0.22 per 100 employees. In 2007, we had 564 recorded injuries and of those, 160 were categorized as lost workday injuries. We are determined to continue to improve these numbers. Steps taken in 2007 included:
- Hazard Risk Assessments: Musculoskeletal or "soft
tissue'' injury is by far the most common type of injury. These injuries typically result from repetitive motion, lifting, lowering, carrying or pushing/pulling.
In 2007, online ergonomic risk assessment
surveys were conducted spanning 15,000
computer workstations and 1,300 industrial tasks.
To assess other risks, we undertook a web-based,
enterprise-wide Job Hazard Analysis process based on internally developed protocols. More than 1,700 Job Hazard Assessments were conducted in 2007.
In addition, we partnered with Liberty Mutual to conduct Qualitative Risk Assessments of certain chemical processes. More than 1,900 Qualitative
Risk Assessments were completed in 2007 with the potential to reduce chemical exposure risks for
over 12,000 employees.
We are now working to resolve risks identified in all three types of assessments, and we are tracking mitigation measures for review by senior management and the Board of Directors. - Employee Opinion Survey: In the 2007 Employee Survey, 87 percent of all respondents agreed that safety is a priority at Raytheon. We are pleased with the result, but we are not yet satisfied. We feel participating in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) will help us drive continuous improvement in our safety performance.
- OSHA Voluntary Protection Program: A new dimension of our safety program is the pursuit of OSHA VPP certification for selected locations, which entails a rigorous process and proactive employee involvement. In 2007, we achieved OSHA VPP Star Certification at our third company site, the Missile Systems Rita Road facility in Tucson, Ariz. The first two sites are the Raytheon Technical Services Company site at the Houston Space Center and the Intelligence and Information Systems Facility in Aurora, Colo.
- Ensuring compliance: Our global responsibility is to ensure full compliance with all environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, as well as internal Raytheon policies and standards. In 2007, federal, state and local regulatory agencies conducted 79 environmental and safety inspections of Raytheon operating locations. Eighteen notices of violations (NOVs) were issued, 11 related to environmental management and seven related to safety issues. Two of the safety NOVs resulted in fines totaling $2,600 and an environmental NOV resulted in a fine of $12,000. Corrective actions for all the NOVs have been completed. We perform a thorough root-cause analysis for each NOV and share "lessons learned" across the company to prevent recurrence.
