Health, Safety, Environment and Community Report 2004

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CEO Message

Dear employees and neighbours,

At BlueScope Steel, we know our success relies on communities supporting our business and products.

Over the past year, the support from our communities has been strong. But we know we can't take it for granted. We need to earn it - by caring for the environment, creating wealth, respecting local values and encouraging involvement.

At a practical level, we do this by supporting youth, the disadvantaged and emergency services, and by investing in projects that improve our environment, enhance community facilities, boost education, and bring the arts to a wider audience.

Many of our community programs are outlined in this report. We hope you will take a few moments to read it.

As a result of the strong support from our communities and employees, the major measures of our performance have continued to climb.

Net profit after tax increased by 29 per cent to $584 million. Shareholders enjoyed a total shareholder return that was amongst the best of any company on the Australian Stock Exchange. And one of the great things about BlueScope Steel is that 99 per cent of our employees are shareholders. So they, too, are benefiting from our success.

Thanks to the dedication and skill of our employees, we set new production records.

We committed to investments of over $1 billion, including the acquisition of US-based company Butler Manufacturing.

We made further progress in improving the environmental performance of the Company's plants and operations. Some examples are provided in this report.

In safety, we achieved a record low lost time injury frequency rate of 1.3 hours lost per million hours worked. Tragically, our otherwise improved safety performance was overshadowed by a fatality on 29 June 2004.

As well as telling you our story, we would like to hear from you. If you would like to provide us with feedback, you can send an e-mail to: question@bluescopesteel.com

BlueScope Steel has become a global company with operations in 16 countries. But we haven't forgotten that our communities are our homes.

Sincerely
Kirby Adams
Managing Director & CEO

Kirby Adams, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Kirby Adams, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer