Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor is putting the safety of the co-operative’s employees first.
Alliance is putting the safety of its employees at the forefront of its business.
Chief executive David Surveyor said ‘’every single piece of machinery’’ had been independently reviewed to minimise the risk of injury to people in its processing plants.
‘‘There are 40 to 50 people killed in workplace accidents each year, 300 Kiwis killed on the roads and 668 people committed suicide last year.’’ - Alliance Chief executive David Surveyor.
‘’We want everyone who goes to work to come back home in the same condition they arrived in,’’ he said.
Alliance was fined $332,000 in the Timaru District Court in late September after it failed to protect one of its employees whose hand was severed in a piece of machinery at the Smithfield plant. Surveyor told shareholders at a roadshow in Tokanui recently that the co-operative had invested in new technology to make its plants safer for its 45,000 employees.
‘’We had a 30 per cent reduction in injuries last year.’’
Surveyor said Alliance had invested $3.8 million in safe cutting technology across its seven plants and planned to spend a further $2.6 million on the latest 600 series band-saw model now the technology had become available. Overall, the co-operative had invested $11.5 million on safety improvements including machine guarding, traffic management and ammonia safety systems.
‘’At our Lorneville plant we’ve put a lot of work into reducing the risks associated with ammonia and we will be rolling that out across our network of plants.’’
Surveyor said Alliance was also focused on looking after the mental health of its employees.
‘’Our suicide numbers are frightening. There are 40 to 50 people killed in workplace accidents each year, 300 Kiwis killed on the roads and 668 people committed suicide last year.’’
Alliance was building a support system and if any employees were in trouble they would be directed to professional help, Surveyor said.
Lamb prices are expected to remain strong with an average mid-season lamb predicted to fetch around $110.
Alliance general manager livestock Heather Stacy told shareholders at a meeting in Tokanui recently they could expect $6.40 to $6.50 a kilogram for lambs during the peak processing period of January to March.
‘’We will see pricing steady in the mid sixes,’’ Stacy said.
While lambs processed up until the New Year could be worth as much as $8.10/kg this price could reduce to about $6.50/kg in the leadup to Christmas which meant a 17kg carcass weight lamb could be worth about $110.
Alliance chief executive David Surveyor said an extra $211 million was paid to farmers for their livestock this year and this would impact on the cooperative’s financial result which was expected to be reduced.
‘’It’s unlikely there will be any pool payments.’’
Surveyor said shareholders had a right to feel frustrated by the lack of pool payments, but he stressed the co-operative was profitable and the balance sheet was ‘’incredibly’’ strong.
‘’We’ve got plenty of muscle to build the company. We will keep investing in the business and break out of the commodity world.’’
Surveyor said it had been a tough year for the co-operative with a dry summer and lamb prices remaining high during this period.
The mycoplasma bovis outbreak affected processing capacity for other cattle by up to six weeks resulting in the Pukeuri plant working overtime and a Sunday shift being implemented at Mataura, he said.
The co-operative also stopped taking non-shareholder supply as it worked through this challenging period.
While global lamb prices were flat during winter and early spring, procurement prices increased by more than $20 a lamb, Surveyor said.
Meanwhile, venison prices remained high and the outlook was for that to continue with prices expected to be in the range of $10 to $12/kg.
‘’We’re seeing continuing strong returns for venison. Venison is a classic example of a cooperative operating as it should.’’
Surveyor said Alliance was committed to the future of the deer industry and had invested $15.9m in a new venison processing plant at Lorneville.
There was also an opportunity to process light cattle at the venison plant if there was not enough capacity for cattle elsewhere, he said.
However, there was a bit of work to do to lift beef prices, particularly for bulls and prime animals, he said.
Alliance is expected to release its financial results in late November.