FGV Annual Report 2014

Water use and quality Our stakeholders are concerned about the potential impact of our operations on natural water ways. We appreciate their concern as water is fundamental to life, and make every effort to ensure we use water responsibly without contaminating its sources. In our mills, efforts to avoid wastage have led to a significant reduction in water use from 1.51 tonnes per tonne of FFB in 2013 to 1.17 tonnes in 2014. In terms of water quality, we recorded a significant reduction in the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of discharged palm oil mill effluents from 58 ppm in 2013 to 47 1 ppm in 2014, indicating a lower level of organic pollutants in the discharged water. We had initiated an exercise in 2013 to monitor the water quality in major river systems flowing through our plantations, based on the Department of Environment (DOE) Water Quality Index (WQI) parameters on dissolved oxygen, pH, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, ammoniacal nitrogen and total suspended solids. In 2014 alone, 84 samples covering 41 river systems were analysed and the results showed no significant deterioration in the test parameters. Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) We are guided by an OSH Manual developed based on the ISO 18001 and MS 1722 certification systems. It contains all our standards, safe work procedures and documentation. Operations wise, we strive to provide a safe and healthy work environment that balances our business objectives with safety and environmental interests. This is enabled by complying with all the relevant laws and regulations; allocating appropriate resources to eliminate incidences, accidents, occupational poisoning or work- related illness; and adopting continual improvement measures to align FGV’s HSE standards with global best practices. In 2014, our safety officers conducted 240 safety visits and 353 safety courses at which 17,124 workers received safety-related training. We managed to reduce our incident rate (IR) and severity rate (SR) to 3.87 and 235 in 2014, from 3.98 and 439 respectively in 2013. However the number of total fatalities from occupational accidents remained the same at six employees. For more information on our Health and Safety processes and initiatives, kindly refer to pages 110 to 113 of this Annual Report. Traceability Traceability is becoming an important element in the oil palm supply chain. At FGV, our produce is traceable right up to our respective palm oil mills, refineries and kernel crushing plants. However, due to the inherent complexities within the supply chain, tracing third-party suppliers remains a challenge for us. We are, however, in negotiation with some intermediaries to ensure our supplies come from legitimate source farms. A pilot project to trace all FFB sources to two of our mills will soon kick-off, with the cooperation of some partners and NGOs. 1 The average BOD level is based on one sample of mill effluent taken from each mill per month over the year. 0.00 0.32 0.64 0.96 1.28 1.60 2011 2012 2013 2014 Water Used Per Tonne of FFB Processed (Tonnes) 1.18 1.22 1.51 1.17 Introduction Performance Highlights About FGV Reports Financial Statements Others Strategy and Value Creation Performance Review & Progress Foreword to Shareholders Annual General Meeting Annual Report 2014 pg 107