Our 2008 Safety Record

Ford's workplace safety record in 2008 was mixed. On the positive side, a major safety indicator – lost-time case rates – continued to improve, dropping 17 percent compared to 2007. Although injury severity rates had been going down steadily for a number of years, the rate ticked upward by seven percent for 2008, most likely as a result of our rebalancing actions in our plants.

Improving our safety record is not only good for our employees, it's good for our business. We have calculated that progress in lost-time cases and days lost saves the Company approximately $30 million in direct costs each year.

The number of serious injuries and fatalities at our facilities did not meet our goals in 2008. Tragically, we experienced four fatalities, including two direct Ford Motor Company employees in North America and two contractors – one in South Africa and one in India. We also experienced 173 serious injuries, involving 143 employees, 17 contractors and 13 joint-venture employees. In most of the cases, the causes were in higher-risk special focus areas for us, including issues relating to pedestrian safety in plants, energy control and power lockout, and lifting and rigging.