49.
introduction. Such efforts include the use of
posters, articles in internal magazines and the
distribution of leaflets.
An important element of our alcohol and work
policy in 2006 will be our employee alcohol-
counselling programme. When absenteeism,
a fall in the quality of work, or other indicators,
make it apparent that an individual has alcohol-
related problems, we will take action. In these
circumstances treatment is offered.
Over the past two years, several operating
companies have launched new initiatives to refresh
employees' knowledge of the health effects of
alcohol. These include a road safety and alcohol-
training programme carried out at a racetrack
in North Italy as well as a discussion session to
encourage employees in Sierra Leone and Nigeria
to be good ambassadors for Heineken. Our
operating company in Croatia, has also started
relevant management training in this area.
Safety
Safety performance in production
This chapter covers all of our production units
(breweries, malting and soft-drink plants) except
those referred to in appendix 3 (Reporting process).
Heineken deeply regrets the death of two of our
employees as the result of work-related accidents
in 2005. One employee involved, died as the result
of the injuries suffered during an accident in the
brewhouse when he was burnt with hot wort during
maintenance activities in our Egyptian production
units in El Obour. A second employee was killed
when he was hit by a truck on the premises of our
brewery in Panama.
In 2004, two employee disabilities were reported
followed by another two in 2005. All four resulted
from accidents at work. The accidents in 2004 (at
Kaduna, Nigeria and Badr, Egypt) both occurred
when the employees involved slipped. In 2005,
one accident leading to disability happened in
Awo-Omamma (Nigeria) where an employee lost a
segment of his index finger when he was trapped in
a pump. The second case, reported in Seville, Spain
was the consequence of an accident that happened
in 2004, when an employee broke a leg when he
was hit by a waste container. The employee was
declared disabled in 2005.
Accuracy of accident reporting
Following questions put by our external assurance
provider concerning the robustness of our
accident reporting system, we have carried out
investigations into its accuracy and effectiveness.
Most of our production units (49 per cent) work
with an electronic registration system (Lotus Notes
Incident Accident Database or Excel) while 37
per cent of our units still use a paper-based system.
Accident frequency
cases/100 FTE
2008
2007
2006 i
2005 I
2004 I
2003 I
Actual
Target
I 2.3
I 2.7
I 3.0
I 3.2
I 3.5
Heineken N.V. - 2004/2005 Sustainability Report