Skipper Gets Talisman Aid on Lake Erie When the captain of a Lake Erie commercial fishing boat suffered a heart attack in September 2003, Talisman employees working on a nearby dive boat used to service offshore gas wells provided medical assistance minutes after they received a general distress call for medical help. As Rod Minor, captain, radioed the Canadian Coast Guard station in Sarnia to say they were on their way to assist, Chris Campbell, Diver Medical Technician consulted with Talisman’s on-call physician, Dr. George Harpur, in Tobermory. Within 20 minutes, Talisman employees were on the scene, the heart attack was confirmed, oxygen administered and assistance rendered to the disabled captain. A little over half an hour later, a US coast guard helicopter was hovering over the scene. A basket was used to hoist the patient aboard and the medivac helicopter flew him to a local hospital where he was treated and released.

At Talisman, we strive to create a working environment where accidents do not occur and in which employees, contractors and the public are not exposed to health and safety hazards.

Where we have operating control, we have developed and implemented written standards, practices and plans to communicate Talisman’s expectations and guide our operational safety and loss control activities. We employ safe systems of work, conduct regular loss control inspections of our facilities and have well-developed incident reporting and emergency response systems globally. We emphasize training and competency within our workforce and promote communication on safety and loss control through regular safety meetings, work permitting processes and internal reporting. New hires and contract personnel are subject to mandatory safety orientation prior to commencing work. Our safety and loss control programs are audited regularly.

Our Health and Safety Program in Action

Screening-level NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material) surveys continued across Canadian operations in 2003, with no related occupational risks identified. In the few locations where NORM was detected, levels were well within accepted occupational exposure limits.

Training in hydrogen sulphide health effects and medical assessment and treatment protocols was delivered in May 2003 to paramedics, police and firefighters in Ontario who could potentially be called upon to respond to emergencies involving our Ontario operations.

Nineteen of Talisman’s 21 gas processing plants in Canada were recognized for their positive long-term safety performance by the Canadian Gas Processors Association including a 20-year safety award for the Keystone gas plant.

In Malaysia, pre-startup safety audits were completed for the PM-3 operations in October 2003 and a project safety review of the South Angsi field development concept was completed in November 2003.

In Indonesia, 28 national field supervisors and superintendents completed a three-day safety management training workshop and annual facility loss prevention inspections were completed.

In December 2003, the Tanjung Joint Operating Body (JOB) in Indonesia received a “Gold Award” from Pertamina (the Indonesian state oil company) in recognition of sound operational HSE performance. Presented every two years, the award recognizes excellence in such areas as HSE leadership, training, awareness and competency and environmental conservation. The Tanjung JOB was the only upstream business in Indonesia to receive this award in 2003.

In 2003, the health and business risks associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) were promptly assessed and appropriate control and contingency measures were implemented globally. Travel prohibitions to Hong Kong, China and Singapore were instituted, employee awareness bulletins focusing on identification, prevention and control were issued and staged evacuation and other contingency measures were put in place at our Southeast Asia operations.

In 2003, Talisman (UK) completed the implementation of a new risk-assessment system called Radar, for application at all its North Sea platforms and its two on-shore installations at Nigg and Flotta. Radar work assessments support the Permit to Work system, which is fundamental to managing offshore risk, including welding, grinding or putting up scaffolding. The system is equally useful in planning and assessing the risks associated with on-shore activities such as construction.

At Talisman, we strive to create a working environment where incidents do not occur and in which employees, contractors and the public are not exposed to health and safety hazards. Unfortunately, health and safety incidents do occasionally occur.

Lost Time Injury Frequency (number of lost time injuries per 200,000 exposure hours)1
	2001	2002	2003
	0.54	0.78	0.49
1 The input data for the Global Aggregate LTIF includes employee incident and exposure hours from all our operations, plus contractor data for our UK and Indonesian operations.

Talisman and its contractors thoroughly investigate all incidents such as these when they occur and implement corrective measures if necessary to avoid similar circumstances in the future.

Jim Hales, Chairman of Talisman’s Health Promotion Forum, Roger Black, former Olympic medallist and Paul Blakeley, Vice President, Talisman (UK) proudly display a Silver Award from Scotland’s Health at Work scheme in April 2003.

Our employee wellness programs encompass pre-hire health assessment, long-term health surveillance, global health risk management, workplace health hazard assessment and control, managed rehabilitative care and employee and family assistance programs. We are proactive on workplace ergonomics issues and maintain emergency medical support systems for our personnel on international assignment.

In February 2003, Talisman (UK) received a Silver Award from Scotland’s Health at Work (SHAW) scheme, recognizing Talisman (UK)’s head office operations for promoting a healthy lifestyle amongst its workers. SHAW is a national award scheme which recognizes employers who demonstrate significant commitment to improving the health and productivity of their workforce.

Employee and Family Assistance Program

Talisman’s Employee and Family Assistance Program is available to Canadian employees globally and Talisman (UK) employees, providing confidential professional counseling services to help address significant personal concerns and issues affecting employees at home and in the workplace.