Targets are an important element in driving performance improvements in certain areas, particularly occupational health, safety and environment. In 2003 we set challenging targets. We met four, made progress on others while in two areas the achievements of previous years were partially reversed.

2003 Safety
Target	Zero fatalities.
Result	Target not met with six fatalities.
Target	A 50 per cent reduction from 2002 in lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) ie. 0.4 lost time injuries per 200,000 hours worked by employees and contractors.
Result	Target not met. The LTIFR was 0.81, a five per cent reduction from last year. Over the past five years the LTIFR has decreased by 56 per cent.

2003 Occupational health
Target	Reduce new cases of occupational disease per 10,000 employees.
Result	Target met. New cases of occupational disease (per 10,000 employees) decreased by 11 per cent, compared with 2002.
Target	Reduce the number of employees exposed to noise over 85 decibels (averaged over eight hours).
Result	Target not met. The reported number of employees (per 10,000) exposed to noise over 85 decibels increased by 17 per cent, compared with 2002. This is most likely a result of increased workplace monitoring as operations implement the occupational health standards.
Target	Make significant progress toward implementation of the Rio Tinto occupational health standards with full compliance by the end of 2004.
Result	Target on track. Implementation of the occupational health standards was a focus during 2003 and various activities were undertaken to support businesses in implementing the standards.

2003 Environment
Target	Finalise comprehensive Rio Tinto environment standards and guidance documents.
Result	Target met. Environment standards have been finalised and released for implementation.
Target	Increase water use efficiency, especially for freshwater.
Result	Target met. There was a 1.6 per cent reduction in water used per tonne of product compared to 2002.*
Target	Reduce energy used per tonne of product.
Result	Target not met. There was a 3.7 per cent increase in energy used per tonne of product compared to 2002.*
Target	Reduce total greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of product.
Result	Target not met. There was a 4.2 per cent increase in total greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of product compared to 2002.*
Target	Achieve zero significant spills
Result	Target not met. There were eight significant spills in 2003, however, this was a 50 per cent decrease from last year.

In addition to contributing to these Group level targets, all of our managed businesses are expected to set social and environment targets which are relevant to the impacts and aspects of their activities. The scope of targets at the operational level may vary as a result of differences in:

• The type of mining - land rehabilitation targets will be more relevant for an open cast mine than an underground mine with minimal surface disturbance;
• The type of processing - targets for air emissions will depend on the type of emissions produced, for example targets for emissions of oxides of sulphur and fluoride may only be relevant for operations that produce aluminium and copper; and
• The location - in some areas where there is a water surplus, targets to assist managing the surplus may be relevant. Similarly, targets to minimise dust emissions may be more relevant for operations located near communities.

View Group business targets...

* Based upon operation level efficiency changes, which are considered better measures of underlying performance as they do not include the effect of changes in our mix of products, eg. as a result of acquisitions.