Ever since Dow introduced the “bleach bonnet” head protection equipment for our workers in 1898, we’ve been leading the way across virtually every facet of environment, health and safety (EH&S) performance.

In 2006, we raised the bar with the launch of our 2015 Sustainability Goals. These ambitious targets reach beyond the fence line of the Company to focus on strengthening our relationships with the communities in which we operate, reducing our global footprint, improving product stewardship and directing the power of innovation to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. For a detailed explanation of these goals, visit the “2015 Sustainability Goals” section of www.dow.com.

The year was also marked by further progress in the area of employee safety, with our injury and illness rate improving slightly year over year. Compared with a decade ago, this rate has been cut by almost 80 percent. But this remarkable progress was overshadowed in 2006 by the deaths of two of our colleagues in tragic falls, events that further strengthen our resolve to drive toward our “vision of zero”—a vision that every employee and every contractor returns safely home at the end of each workday.

Throughout 2006, we continued to focus on improving our energy efficiency. As a result, we achieved a further reduction in energy intensity, that is, the amount of energy used for every pound of product produced, which was down 3 percent from our 2004 baseline. Our aim is to achieve a 25 percent reduction by 2015.

During the year, the Company also played a key role in the drive for higher standards of environmental performance, safety and security across the entire industry. We led the formation of an Independent Advisory Panel on chemical security, which included external experts on process safety, transportation security, crisis management and emergency response. We announced a collaborative project to develop safer, more secure railcars. We launched a global web site dedicated to addressing the issues of energy efficiency and climate change. We endorsed the Global Product Strategy, an effort by the global chemical industry to enhance product stewardship. And we led the way in a range of activities and initiatives across the globe aimed at delivering improvements in energy efficiency, security, health and safety.

In 2006, Dow was once again honored with a variety of awards and accolades for its EH&S performance. For example, we received the Galaxy Star of Energy Efficiency Award from the Alliance to Save Energy, we were honored as Best in Class by the Carbon Disclosure project for our approach to climate change, and we were named for the sixth time to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

Dow measures its environment, health and safety performance against a number of key metrics, a selection of which are provided below. For more information, visit the “Our Commitments” section of www.dow.com.

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