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, ebusiness, websites and telesales.

With more than 225 outlets and 127 gas distribution points, we trade in Australia as Blackwoods (incorporating Blackwoods Electrical and Bakers Construction and Industrial Supplies), Protector Alsafe, Bullivants, Total Fasteners, and Coregas. In New Zealand we trade as Blackwoods Protector, Packaging House, NZ Safety and Safety Source. Blackwoods also opened its first overseas branch in Indonesia during the reporting period. As at 30 June 2012, we employed 3,666 people.

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 first ‘Greener Workplace Range’ chapter in the 2012 Blackwoods catalogue that features products which help customers operate more sustainably. We improved the energy efficiency of two of our facilities by retro-fitting lights, sensors and skylights. Our safety projects focused on the high-risk areas of storing goods at height and driving forklifts safely. Over the course of the reporting year, we reduced our printing by 24 per cent¹ (from the 2009 baseline for WIS excluding Coregas), and we progressed workforce diversity strategies to drive growth. We alsocontinued to support The Fred Hollows Foundation.

¹Per million dollars of revenue.

Safety
Our safety culture was reinforced with the number of internal safety audits increasing by 41 per cent (to more than 1,000) compared to the previous reporting period, including 70 audits by the Executive Leadership Team.

Our total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) improved to 24.7 for the year from 27.8 in the previous reporting period, which aggregates the frequency rates for medical treatment injuries (MTIFR) and lost time injuries (LTIFR). LTIFR was 2.41 for the year, which is an increase from 2.34 for the previous year. The leadership team reviews safety incidents, corrective actions, and key safety performance indicators on a monthly basis to ensure that all of our businesses are safe places to work.

During the year, we implemented priority safety initiatives including outcomes from the ForkSafe project that engaged operational team members from select warehouses to roll out updated procedures and training for mobile equipment operators. We revised the safe operating procedure for storing goods at height, retrained key employees and developed weekly and daily inspection programs. We also reviewed the safety risks of employees temporarily working overseas, including notifications of emergencies, driving vehicles and travel insurance. Our emergency response and business continuity processes were reviewed during the reporting period. We also rolled out a national flu vaccination program for employees in Australia.

Training
We continued to provide employees with training and development opportunities. During the reporting period, there were 56 new online courses made available to our employees, bringing the total number of courses available to 138. In addition, more than 7,000 online training sessions were completed during the year by employees.

We had more than 490 employees participate in instructor-led training courses covering sales, first aid, forklifts, hazard management and safety training. We also ran internal development programs focused on business, project management and commercial skills for 113 high potential employees during the reporting year. We continue to support employees completing Certificate III and IV qualifications in transport and logistics and frontline management.

Diversity
Growth through a diverse workforce remains a priority for our business, with a range of diversity strategies that focus on women (especially in leadership positions), age diversity, and Indigenous people.

During the year, we focused on recruiting Indigenous employees and on improving cultural awareness of team members, including senior management, through implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy supported by a dedicated steering committee.

We also conducted the second female employee survey to better understand female perspectives in our business. The annual employee survey measured the opinions of employees on a broad range of topics including leadership, teams, business objectives, and our work environment.

To assist people with a disability or who are returning to work after injury, some of our branches worked with CRS Australia, a leading provider of disability employment and assessment services for people with a disability, injury or health condition.

Reducing our environmental impact in the form of energy use, resource use and waste has been a priority during the reporting period.

The Blackwoods Canning Vale Distribution Centre in Perth was retro-fitted with efficient lighting and daylight sensors, reducing energy consumption by 26 per cent based on throughput. A retrofit of skylights at Total Fasteners in Brisbane reduced electricity consumption by 32 per cent per million dollars of revenue.

Our businesses have reported a 24 per cent reduction in pages printed from the 2009 baseline for WIS (excluding Coregas)1. We also introduced cardboard and plastic balers at our distribution centres in Australia to improve recycling rates, as well as commencing implementation of national recycling and waste management contracts to improve our waste to landfill diversion rate.

As part of the Wesfarmers registration under the Australian Packaging Covenant, we have updated our supplier guidelines to include the key requirements of the Covenant, and submitted our first annual report.

Forklift timers were introduced in our Australian Global Sourcing warehouse in Sydney, which reduced our average peak demand by four per cent despite business activity increasing.

For the first time, the 2012 Blackwoods catalogue included a chapter on the ‘Greener Workplace Range’, which featured 520 products to help customers operate more sustainably. The catalogue was printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper for the first time. We also used third party certified paper for the Protector Alsafe catalogue, regular marketing publications and internal paper requirements. NZ Safety developed a range of waste management and recycling signs to help its customers improve their recycling.

A further 99 energy efficient hybrid vehicles were introduced into our fleet to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, which brings the total number of hybrid vehicles in our fleet to 165.

Construction also commenced on our new warehouse in Karratha, Western Australia, which is being built to a five-star industrial Green Star Rating, one of the first buildings of this kind in Australia.

During the year, our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse emissions decreased by 11 per cent to 97,740 tonnes of CO²e, primarily due to reduced demand from the major customer of our Coregas plant in Port Kembla, NSW. Our total greenhouse gas emissions were 232,733 tonnes of CO²e, which includes Scope 3 emissions.

Our energy consumption decreased by eight per cent for the reporting period.

During the year, we supported partners and local community groups with a total direct contribution in Australia and New Zealand of more than $220,000. This amount has been verified by LBG and includes $11,000 contributed by WIS team members.

Blackwoods contributed to The Fred Hollows Foundation by donating a percentage of sales from the Foresight range of products, which for the reporting period amounted to over $30,000. In May 2012, five employees visited the Northern Territory to witness the eye and health programs of The Fred Hollows Foundation in Aboriginal communities and one team member participated in the Jawun Secondment Program. We engaged Indigenous suppliers for catering, printing and advertising, and also Indigenous models. Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Steering Committee met at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence and initiated a cricket workshop for children with Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson. Our New Zealand businesses continued to contribute to St John, the Cancer Council, and the Hihi bird breeding program.

We remain committed to the sustainability of our supply chain, including ethical labour standards and the environmental impacts of manufacturing products. We engaged more than 100 Australian and New Zealand suppliers in our updated supplier survey during the reporting period to reduce risk in ethical sourcing, dangerous goods, safety, trade practices legislation and chain of responsibility requirements.

We continued to work with our international suppliers to improve the sustainability of our supply chain by auditing the manufacturers of our own branded products. We promoted sustainability with our suppliers through the annual Supplier of the Year awards, which recognise suppliers’ efforts in this area. The importance of sustainability was promoted to customers through our marketing publications.

Our New Zealand businesses introduced a new employee survey to benchmark themselves from an ‘employer of choice’ perspective with other companies in New Zealand.

As a supplier of industrial and safety products and services, 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