Performance

Fatalities

Tragically and unacceptably, five people lost their lives while working at Tata Steel during the current reporting period.

Two employees and two contractors were killed in India. Three of the fatalities occurred in the Raw Materials division – one in the Jharia mine, one in the Noamundi mine and one in the Sukinda Chromite mine. A contractor at the Jamshedpur steelworks died in a road accident.  An employee of NatSteel died in March 2010 after suffering fatal injuries in the Singapore rolling mill.

Each of these incidents has been thoroughly investigated and every possible measure is being taken to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Lost time injury frequency rate

Our key safety performance indicator is lost time injury frequency (LTIF) rate combined for employees and contractors. The Group’s global performance data shows an improvement in LTIF from 1.38 in 2008/09 to 0.95 in 2009/10.

Safety performance within our European organisation for the year under review was the best in its long history. The year’s average combined employee and contractor rate was 1.5 – 16% lower than 2008/09. Tata Steel in Europe is targeting a 25% year-on-year improvement in LTIF and recordables for 2010/11.

In India, Tata Steel recorded an LTIF rate of 0.56 during 2009/10 – a 30% reduction from the previous year.