Two fatal accidents in which three persons lost their lives, cast a shadow over the second quarter of 2009.

On 9 May this year, there was an accident at Hydro’s power station Svandalsflona in the municipality of Odda in Western Norway. Two men died in the accident, one employed by Veidekke Entreprenør and the other by one of our subcontractors. The accident occurred during work to remove mass from a rock slide in a water shaft.

On the night between 8 - 9 June, a man died in an accident at Veidekke’s power plant Kjøsnesfjorden. The man was employed by a subcontractor hired to transport rock out of a tunnel after blasting.

Injury rate

The rolling average injury rate for the last four quarters is 4.3, as against 6.1 for the same period last year. This reduction can mainly be attributed to fewer injuries in our Swedish and Danish operations during the last four quarters.

Our Norwegian operations reported eight lost-time injuries in the second quarter of 2009. This gave an injury rate of 4.5 for the quarter, compared with 2.4 for the same quarter last year. The rolling average injury rate for the last four quarters is 3.8, as against 3.3 last year.

In our Swedish operations, the number of lost-time injuries was significantly reduced from four injuries in the second quarter of 2008, to one injury in the same quarter of this year. This gave an injury rate for the second quarter of 2.2, as against 8.7 for the same quarter last year. The rolling average injury rate for the last four quarters is 5.5, compared with 11.5 last year.

In our Danish operations, there were no injuries in the second quarter this year, thus giving an injury rate of 0. The rolling average injury rate for the last four quarters in Denmark is 6.7, as against 16.2 for the second quarter of 2008.

Sickness absence

Sickness absence among our skilled workers in Norway was 7.1 per cent as of the second quarter this year, compared with 6.6 per cent at the end of the second quarter of 2008. The rolling average sickness absence for the last four quarters for all employees in Norway was 5.5 per cent as of the second quarter, as against 5.3 per cent the previous year.

In Sweden, sickness absence among our skilled workers in the second quarter was 4.1 per cent, the same as the year before. For all employees, the rolling average sickness absence for the last four quarters was
2.8 per cent, compared with 3.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2008.

In Denmark, the rolling average sickness absence among skilled workers for the last four quarters was
3.1 per cent as of the second quarter this year, compared with 3.9 per cent the previous year. For all employees, the rolling average sickness absence for the last four quarters was 2.1 per cent, as against
2.8 per cent as of the second quarter of 2008.

Sickness absence among skilled workers is still showing a decreasing trend in Denmark and Sweden, while remaining stable in Norway.

For our skilled workers in Norway, sickness absence was 6.8 per cent (accumulated), as against 6.4 per cent at the same time last year. The accumulated sickness absence for all employees in Norway was 5.4 per cent, compared with 5.2 per cent the year before.

In Sweden, sickness absence among skilled workers (accumulated) was 3.8 per cent, as against 4.1 per cent the year before. The accumulated sickness absence for all employees was 2.7 per cent, compared with 3.0 per cent in 2008.

In Denmark, sickness absence among skilled workers was 2.9 per cent (accumulated), against 4.4 per cent the year before. The accumulated sickness absence for all employees was 2.2 per cent, as against
3.1 per cent last year.