OUR COMMUNITY

OUR COMMUNITY - MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Respect for communities is a key value of Our Bond. In 2008/09, BlueScope Steel engaged in a number of programs aimed at improving the communities in which we operate with our focus being shelter, water, safety, arts and culture and education.

Here are just a few of the programs BlueScope Steel supported during this past year:

• Rebuilding program and Red Cross Bushfire Appeal – Following the tragedy of the Victorian bushfires in Australia, BlueScope Steel pledged $1 million in steel building products to help rebuild communities destroyed by the fires. By the end of June 2009, Phase 1 of the rebuilding was completed with two large community kitchen buildings and storage buildings in the worst affected communities installed. BlueScope Steel employees contributed more than $140,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. A number of our Victorian based employees are volunteers with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the State Emergency Service (SES). In addition to financial donations, many BlueScope employees personally donated food, clothing and their time to help the relief effort.
  


• Sichuan Earthquake Rebuilding program - BlueScope Steel China donated a new building, equipment and educational materials to the Xingren school in Mianyang City to replace the building destroyed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The new building is designed to withstand severe earthquake loads and provides a safe schoolroom environment.
  


• Tank a Day Challenge – Over the last two years, BlueScope Steel has donated 400 rainwater tanks to Australian primary schools – one tank for every day of the school year. The Tank a Day Challenge sought to teach young Australians about the importance of water harvesting, conservation, and water management, and help primary schools develop their own water conservation programs. Nearly 3,000 primary schools and approximately 750,000 students across Australia participated in the Challenge.
  


• SmartRoads – Safer roadways is a goal everyone in every country can work towards. In Indonesia, where motorcycles are a main means of transport, the death toll is high, especially for young people between the ages of 16 and 30. To help improve road safety around our sites, BlueScope Steel Indonesia launched a new community program, SmartRoads – Road Safety for Our Communities. Seventeen SmartRoads Ambassadors from the site were trained to take the road safety messages to young people in the local communities where BlueScope operates.
  


• Surf Life Saving Shelters – BlueScope Steel has been a long-standing sponsor of Surf Life Saving in the Illawarra. This year, new surf shelters were donated to nine member clubs of the South Coast (New South Wales) Branch of Surf Life Saving Australia.
  

BlueScope also supports emergency services and provides assistance in times of crisis.

Our activities and partnerships are guided by Community Relations management plans which help us ensure we deliver on our promises and identify opportunities for improvement.

We engage regularly with all stakeholders and endeavour to build relationships that are sustainable over the long term.

As Our Bond says, "our communities are our homes." We strive to be a valued member of the communities in which we live and work, and seek to demonstrate the respect we have for the wide range of cultures represented in our workforce and our communities.