This means that demonstrating a clear commitment to sustainability is integral to our day-to-day working lives and a value that we truly believe in. We have a great opportunity in AMEC to make a real and positive difference to the lives of people, the environment and contribute to the economies where AMEC works.
This is why I have made sure that sustainability is an integral part of AMEC's Operational Excellence programme which will develop over the next two to three years and into the future. Operational Excellence is about benchmarking against the best and managing continuous improvement in a consistent way to learn from and ultimately lead our peers. The programme touches on many of our key sustainability issues such as employee development, safety, strategic relationship management and the supply chain.
Despite our best efforts towards making safety a priority, I am very disappointed to report that in September 2007, an AMEC employee sustained fatal head injuries following a fall from height. We must have a zero tolerance towards any behaviours which may endanger any employee or their colleagues and it is the responsibility of us all to learn from such incidents and work towards preventing them from occurring.
I also stated last year that I was committed to making carbon emission management a clear priority within our business so we could make and demonstrate improvements. This year we started planning and developing an AMEC wide low-carbon strategy as well as measuring and reporting on our own carbon footprint. There is still more to be done but we have taken the first steps. I want to take a personal lead in the area of energy conservation and throughout this year I have reduced my heating by one degree in the winter and turned down the air conditioning in the spring/summer. In addition, when I am away for weekends I make sure that everything is turned off stand by
The response from all employees in taking up the challenges of improving our approach to sustainability continues to be enthusiastic. I will personally make sure that we focus our efforts on continuing to develop and implement actions to make sure sustainability remains of paramount importance. In this way, we will have a safe and successful future for AMEC.
Samir Brikho
Chief Executive
Sustainability Programme Chairman