Health and safety employee engagement through Viewpoint remained strong at 77 (our joint second highest score). 

We saw a 3% reduction in numbers of lost time incidents (601); however, our frequency rate is up 5.4% at 6.07 falling short against the threshold we had set of 5.14. Of these, 35 (6%) were major injuries (down 24% on 2022) which resulted in a 18.6% improvement in frequency rate (0.35) better than 2023 threshold (0.41). These incidents resulted in 13,786 days lost, down 5.2% on 2022; and severity rate of 22.94 (down 2.4% on 2022) and above our 2023 threshold of 22.06. 

It is with great sadness that we lost three colleagues due to fatalities at work. Two due to natural causes and one resulted from a road traffic accident. None were as a result of workplace safety failings.

We were subject to two safety prosecutions related to historical events.

A road traffic accident in 2019, resulted in a fine of £240,000, with costs of £37,000 for failures to discharge our duties under sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. We pleaded guilty, at the earliest opportunity and on a limited basis. We fully cooperated with the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and carried out our own comprehensive investigation. The judge found no aggravating factors and recognised Serco’s good health and safety record, a culture of responsibility, and the steps taken to improve matters. Since the incident, measures have been put in place to improve health and safety procedures.

The second was the very sad 2015 fatal assault on a Serco Prisoner Custody Officer. A Newton hearing took place relating to failure to discharge section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, for which we pleaded guilty on a limited basis. This resulted in a fine of £2,250,000 and costs of £433,596. We cooperated with the HSE and carried out our own investigation at the time. We have put measures in place to improve health and safety generally and to reduce the likelihood of re-occurrence. 

Serco North America has maintained its Experience Modification Rating below 1.0 which is used to gauge past cost of workers' compensation claims and the future probability of claim costs.

We continue to drive divisional harm/injury reduction plans, resulting in a 40% increase in safety observation and engagement reporting, as well as specific local initiatives such as simplification of safety procedures and focus on psychological health and safety. 

Our 2023 Zero Harm Week, focused on ‘Situational Awareness’ as part of a focus on key risk reduction areas, including avoidable incidents, violence and aggression, and road risk. We have driven a campaign, ‘Every Step Matters’, which has grown through collaboration from a local Contract initiative into a global campaign. Contracts have 'safety stand downs' to maintain safety awareness, understand learnings from relevant incidents, and focus on reducing avoidable events.

We are focused on reducing violence and aggression not just in our Justice & Immigration operations but also in other parts of the business such as roadside operations. Initiatives have included introduction of incapacitant spray and conflict resolution training. Asia Pacific is working with the University of South Australia on a pilot linguistics project, teaching staff how to speak to people and deal with people that have issues affecting their speech. 

To improve the safety of colleagues and detainees, trials in our Justice & Immigration operations include 'Safe Cell' that uses non-intrusive sensors and cameras and machine learning/artificial intelligence for automated CCTV monitoring of inmates in observation cells. When Safe Cell detects an event of interest, it creates an alarm for staff to mitigate. They are also trialling facial recognition, which redefines monitoring and identification using advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve security and safety.

Managing increasing road risk has seen the establishment of a Global Road Risk Oversight Group, sharing on topics such as fatigue; UK&E has increased use of telematics, vehicle borne cameras, speed limiters and analysis of management information (including for accidents, claims and speeding). North America have revised fleet safety training introducing de-escalation training, added telematics and three-point cameras to all vehicles, and introduced personal beacons and incapacitant spray; Middle East have completed defensive driving refresher training; Asia Pacific have revised vehicle critical controls and standards.

We continue to review opportunities for safety training. Mandated across the business is 'Serco Essentials' training, the safety module of which has been refreshed. Specific training on these topics has been implemented in the UK with the intent to roll this out across other Divisions.

We recognise the important work completed by our contractors and have been strengthening collaborative activities to better manage their safety through initiatives such as Control of Contractors and the implementation of Safe Contractor in the UK, Smartek in Australia, and contractor forums in the Middle East. The introduction of EcoVadis in our procurement onboarding and due diligence is supporting our safety commitments.

In the Middle East, we continue to hold regular contractor forums, increasing from 11 to 16 in 2023. This is starting to demonstrate an impact, with a reduction in sub-contractor incidents from 17 in 2022 to three in 2023.