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health and safety
Marathon recognizes that it is a privilege to operate in any community. As a result, the Company conducts its business with a high regard for the health and safety of its employees, contractors and neighboring communities.
The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of the Company’s board of directors oversees Marathon’s HES policy and its associated performance principles. The senior-level Corporate Responsibility Management Committee offers guidance; reviews overall performance of environmental compliance, HES and corporate social responsibility-related programs; and establishes annual goals and direction. Performance and results are measured and communicated internally and externally on Marathon’s Web site and in this Report. In 2007, the Company will review the organization of this senior management guidance.
Contractors are pivotal to achieving the Company’s health and safety goals. They must follow Marathon’s HES policies, standards and guidelines in performing their work. Marathon considers a contractor’s HES record in the selection process and monitors their work performance. Together, Marathon and contractors strive for HES excellence.
Occupational Injury and Illness Rates
Marathon’s goal is an accident- and injury-free workplace, with 100 percent safe work practices and conditions throughout its operations. The Company works diligently to achieve this goal, investigating injuries and incidents, reviewing near misses and implementing corrective actions, conducting safety meetings and briefings to maintain high safety awareness, and through peer-to-peer behavioral observations.
Marathon tracks occupational injuries and illnesses worldwide in accordance with the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Recordkeeping Standard. Marathon utilizes the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Days Away Rate (DAR) as the primary metrics to track safety performance. These rates represent the number of cases per 200,000 work hours (equivalent to the hours worked by 100 full-time workers in a year).
For 2006, the combined Upstream and Downstream employee and contractor TRIR was 0.99 and the DAR was 0.17. While 2006 was the second consecutive year that Marathon recorded no workplace fatalities of employees or contractors in any of its operations, the Company experienced two fatalities in two separate incidents during the first six months of 2007. Marathon is cooperating with the investigating authorities and has also provided resources to counsel employees following their co-workers’ deaths.
Downstream’s 2006 TRIR and DAR for employees were 0.71 and 0.11, respectively. Since 2002, the Downstream TRIR has improved annually and has been lower than the average incident rates across all U.S. oil and gas industry segments for member companies reporting into the API Occupational Injury & Illness Benchmarking Program.
This safety performance is due in part to Downstream’s commitment to peer-to-peer behavior-based safety (BBS). Each Downstream operating unit uses a basic safety observation approach, in which employees observe one another as they perform work-related tasks, note safe and at-risk behaviors, and then discuss their observations.
Upstream ended 2006 with a TRIR of 1.25 for employees and contractors combined, a 16.8 percent increase year-over-year. Recognizing its need for improvement, Upstream has implemented a multi-year safety program to address the challenges of employing a large contractor workforce.
To improve overall safety and productivity, U.S. Production Operations (USPO) initiated a Safety Leadership program that emphasizes individual leadership to enhance safety performance. During two-day workshops, employees learn and practice skills that influence safe behaviors.
Marathon held 12 safety leadership workshops for 176 Marathon employees and 102 contractors in the second half of 2006. More than 40 senior managers from Marathon and key contractor companies participated. Additional efforts in 2006 to improve Upstream safety performance included increased 
supervision of contractors in U.S. field operations, increased use of leading indicators as safety metrics and a worldwide safety stand-down to emphasize the Company’s commitment to safety.
The Company has adopted Veley’s Problem Solving Index, also known as the vPSI System, to evaluate root causes of incidents and implement corrective actions. The vPSI was introduced in 2005 and was fully implemented in worldwide production operations in 2006.
In 2007, Upstream plans 31 additional safety leadership workshops in the U.S. and three in Equatorial Guinea. USPO is continuing its program to certify 13 safety professionals who work in field operations as safety coaches. Third-party safety coaching guides work one-on-one with Marathon safety personnel to develop their coaching skills and help them meet defined criteria for certification. The goal is to train professionals who can help others to improve their safety leadership skills. In 2007, Upstream also will begin focusing on leading indicators, such as leadership safety engagement and vPSI measures, to forecast safety performance.
In 2006, SSA recorded a TRIR of 4.39, compared to 4.13 in 2005, and a DAR of 1.47, compared to 1.36 in 2005.
In 2007, the TRIR target for Downstream is 0.75 and the TRIR target for SSA (Retail) is 4.0. Upstream’s 2007 TRIR target is 1.07; the DAR target is 0.20.
Process Safety
Marathon applies process safety management for hazards associated with using highly hazardous chemicals in its facilities worldwide. In the U.S., eight Downstream and two Upstream facilities are subject to OSHA’s standard for Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals. Upstream also operates government-regulated international facilities that follow process safety management elements. Marathon manages its unregulated facilities, including those in Africa, using process safety principles.
Marathon takes an integrated team approach to continually improve process safety globally. The strengths of the Company’s worldwide process safety program are its risk management programs, compliance audits, safety culture and use of structured management systems.
In 2007, the Company will continue to improve its focus on process safety management by initiating annual internal process safety inspections at regulated facilities, redefining corporate oversight for process safety programs and establishing corporate metrics for performance.
Employee Participation
Marathon promotes health and safety awareness, compliance and continual improvement through policies, management systems and other programs. These include training and development, BBS programs, performance measures and recognition. The Company engages employees at all levels to use these resources to support its health and safety initiatives.
Employee efforts contributed to Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star designation at three Downstream locations. VPP is a partnership of Company management, employees, contractors and OSHA. Its goal is to develop, implement and monitor safety and health management systems to ensure a safe and healthy workplace.
The Garyville and Robinson refineries have been VPP Star sites since 1994 and 1999, respectively. In 2006, the Findlay office complex completed a week-long OSHA audit and received VPP Star designation. Safety processes had been in place for several years in the office complex, including safety meetings, awareness campaigns, and site security and safety measures. Approximately 80 employees were actively involved in developing additional resources to prepare their co-workers for the successful OSHA audit.
Workforce Health
Employee health and wellness, both in the workplace and off the job, are priorities for Marathon. To encourage employees to be informed consumers and managers of their own health, the Company provides health and medical benefits and optional wellness programs. Benefits and services are offered based on employment practices for local employees in communities where Marathon has operations.
The voluntary Well ALL Ways program is offered to U.S.-based employees, retirees and their family members to help them proactively manage their personal health and wellness. Participants are eligible for annual preventive exams and screening colonoscopies (beginning at age 45) at no charge; reimbursement for health and fitness club memberships; and smoking cessation, weight control and other wellness programs. Marathon also offers wellness programs in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Ireland.
Well ALL Ways participants have the option to complete a wellness assessment that gauges their health and identifies risk factors. Employees who complete the assessment earn credits that translate into cash in their Marathon Health Reimbursement Account. In 2007, Marathon will evaluate aggregate data from the assessments to identify the top health risk factors and develop targeted wellness programs.
In early 2007, a third-party provider invited eligible individuals to participate in voluntary programs to help manage conditions such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, low back pain and depression. The program goals are to help employees live healthier lives, support their health care protocols and ultimately to reduce the cost of health care claims.
For employees and dependents living and traveling internationally for business, Marathon’s International Health Standard provides programs to help reduce individual risks. Assistance includes routine and emergency medical care, health education, physical examinations and immunizations. Company programs also target regional health issues and diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Pandemic Flu Plan
In 2006, Marathon developed an emergency preparedness, response and business continuity plan for an influenza pandemic, a significant potential health threat. The Company’s goals are to minimize the risk of illness and death among employees and their families and to prevent operational disruptions during a pandemic, even with a reduced workforce. Every department, facility and office in the Company was involved in the effort and has developed a plan that addresses its local needs and resources.
Marathon informed all employees about flu prevention and preparedness, developing an internal Web site, brochures, posters, seminars and a computer-assisted learning module. The Company shares its awareness materials with suppliers and community partners.
The Company held its first pandemic plan tabletop exercise in late 2006 in Equatorial Guinea. All of its partners and two other operators in the region participated. Additional drills will be held in operations around the world in 2007.
Workplace Health Programs
Marathon complies with all applicable laws, regulations and other requirements for a safe and healthy workplace for employees and contractors. The Company’s Industrial Hygiene Standards provide a system for identifying and addressing employee exposures to chemical, physical, biological and nuclear hazards through engineering controls, work practice controls and/or personal protection equipment. HES policies and standards also cover hearing conservation, chemical handling and storage, respiratory protection and other workplace health issues.
Several Marathon locations have a wellness coordinator who plans educational programs, health screenings and other activities. In the corporate headquarters building in Houston, Texas, Marathon opened a fitness facility in late 2006. Employees, spouses, partners, eligible dependents and retirees can use the facility free of charge. Other locations also offer site-specific fitness programs.
Product-related Health Risks
Marathon produces, uses and manufactures potentially hazardous products. Product Stewardship principles that are part of the Global Performance System and Responsible Care Management System® require the Company to provide information to, and work with, applicable parties to foster the safe use, handling, transportation, storage, recycling, reuse and disposal of its materials, products and wastes.
Marathon develops Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all of its products. MSDS ensure that safety and health information on the manufacturing, storage, use and disposal of hazardous chemicals is available to customers, contractors, transporters and others who may come into contact with them. The public can access MSDS on the Company’s external Web site, and employees can access the information through internal databases and via hard copy where necessary. The Downstream MSDS system ties in to its billing system, assuring that commercial customers receive an MSDS when they purchase a product. Although it is not required by regulations, Marathon makes MSDS available to retail customers from service station managers and on its Web site.
Marathon conducts basic research and epidemiology studies on certain products through consortia such as ACC Chemical Products and Technology Division panels, the Petroleum Industry High Production Volume Testing Initiative, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Voluntary Children’s Chemical Evaluation Program.
Eradicating Malaria in Equatorial Guinea
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