In 2007, we took further steps towards a groupwide health and safety culture: business units implemented the minimum standards for organizing occupational health and safety measures. In 2008, these standards will be summarized in a mandatory groupwide guideline. We intend to continue developing our health and safety culture on this basis.

All E.ON business units will have a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Management System and an organizational structure which clearly allocates responsibilities. The number of business units with a HSE Management System increased again in 2007.

To our great regret, there were 13 fatal accidents groupwide in 2007. Four of the 13 were E.ON staff, while the other nine were employees of subcontractors working for E.ON. In none of the cases was E.ON responsible under criminal law. We deeply regret these accidents and are continually working to further develop our safety culture. This is a top management priority at E.ON. If there is a serious incident, the group’s Board of Management is informed within 24 hours. The Board then meets to discuss the circumstances of the accident. Following this, appropriate conclusions are drawn to avoid similar incidents in the future and make working for E.ON even safer.

The market units produce an annual HSE report along with internal HSE reports published at least once every quarter. This allows the management to quickly implement measures for improving the system.