Corporate responsibility review

Corporate responsibility objectives

Initial ethics awareness training to be completed by new starters within one month of joining.
Initial ethics awareness training to be implemented within three months of completion date of any acquisition.
Survey to be undertaken to evaluate effectiveness of 2006 UK ethics awareness training package. Implement agreed corrective actions in 2007.

Ethics awareness training has been introduced to new starter induction processes.
New businesses are issued with the Group’s ethics guide promptly after acquisition and this is followed up with online or DVD training.
A survey was undertaken which indicated that 99% of UK employees have some awareness of our ethical standards. Action plans to address areas identified for improvement have been put in place.

Senior Leadership to communicate and demonstrate commitment to high ethical standards through employee engagement. Number of engagement events and employees reached to be measured.
Develop and roll out a Group-wide code of conduct.
Implement the response to the Woolf Committee recommendations.

2007 safety metrics to improve relative to 2006:

Establish appropriate industry benchmarks for each line of business to monitor performance and establish targets to move towards best in class.
Group performance (lost days metric) to be better than relevant industry average.
Continue to achieve an improvement year-on-year in injuries/lost working time.

A benchmarking study of BAE Systems businesses and external companies was performed. The targets thus derived are those set within 2008 objectives.
In 2007, we reduced the number of lost days by more than 10% over 2006. We continue to perform at a level better than the industry average, with 8,734 days lost due to work-related injury per 100,000 employees, (compared with the UK manufacturing average of 25,000).

Continue to drive performance in safety:

Reduce the gap between 2007 Company performance and external benchmark by 10% in 2008 (benchmark is 2,000 days lost per 100,000 employees).
Senior Leadership to demonstrate commitment to safety by undertaking formal training and conducting safety audits across our operations. Number of safety audits conducted to be measured.
Progress to benchmark safety performance against a five level Safety Maturity Matrix – all businesses to achieve Level 3 by the end of 2008 and have a plan in place to attain Level 5 by the end of 2011 (Level 5 has been benchmarked against leading companies).

85% of employee grievances under the UK ‘Respect at Work’ policy to be resolved through local discussion without proceeding to the corporate process for formal investigation.
In each of the home markets, move towards establishing a workforce reflective of the national average in terms of gender mix and ethnic diversity, taking into account variations by region and industrial sector.

91% of employee grievances were resolved at a local level during 2007.
Diversity action plans were implemented within each of our businesses to reflect their local communities and recruitment populations.

Create an environment that values and respects the contribution, based on merit, of all members of the communities in which we operate:

Senior Leadership to demonstrate commitment to such an environment by attending a diversity awareness training programme by mid-year.
Establish a Group-wide Women’s Forum.
Develop an action plan to enhance diversity and inclusion by mid-year.