GRI Navigator

• 1st paragraph.

• 4th paragraph covers all seven Customer Sector Groups (CSGs) (Aluminium, Base Metals, Carbon Steel Materials, Diamonds and Specialty Products, Energy Coal, Petroleum and Stainless Steel Materials). An example description of a CSG is: ‘Aluminium (mining of bauxite, refining to alumina and smelting to produce aluminium)’.

• Table – ‘Our Resources at Work’ lists all BHP Billiton commodities within their Customer Sector Groups, alongside their application for Energy, Construction, Industry, Household appliances and Personal use.

• Map – ‘BHP Billiton Locations’ illustrates the location of each BHP Billiton operation, with the products and services from each one detailed below the map.

• ‘Standard 11 – Suppliers, Contractors and Partners’ and ‘Standard 12 – Product Stewardship’.

• Case Study No. 32 – ‘Mozal assists growth and development of local suppliers through collaboration and capacity-building programs’.

• 1st paragraph: ‘BHP Billiton is a Dual Listed Company comprising BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc. The two entities continue to exist as separate companies, but operate as a combined group known as BHP Billiton.’

• 3rd and 4th paragraphs provide a description of the customer-oriented groupings called Customer Sector Groups.

• 4th paragraph provides the name of each Customer Sector Group, along with the products for which they are responsible.

• Map – ‘BHP Billiton Locations’ illustrates the location of each BHP Billiton operation, with the relevant Customer Sector Group and the products and services from each one detailed below the map.

• Map – ‘BHP Billiton Locations’ illustrates the location of each BHP Billiton operation, with the relevant Customer Sector Group and the products and services from each one detailed below the map.

• 2nd paragraph: ‘The Company was created in 2001 through the Dual Listed Companies (DLC) merger of BHP Limited (now BHP Billiton Limited) and Billiton Plc (now BHP Billiton Plc). Headquartered in Melbourne, the Group has primary listings on the Australian and London stock exchanges.’
• The 11th paragraph outlines the shareholder base, detailing the level of public ownership of the company by continent.

• Map – ‘BHP Billiton Locations’ illustrates the location of each BHP Billiton operation, with the relevant Customer Sector Group and the % BHPB ownership of each site or asset detailed below the map.

• 8th paragraph: ‘Our key markets downstream are refiners and processors of raw materials, for example, steelworks, smelters, petroleum refiners, thermal power stations, diamond cutters and so on.’

• Graph – ‘Diversification by market (turnover)’ provides details of the nature of the markets served at 30 June 2004.

• Table – ‘Our Resources at Work’ lists all BHP Billiton commodities within their Customer Sector Groups, alongside their market application, namely Energy, Construction, Industry, Household appliances and Personal use.

• 1st paragraph: ‘BHP Billiton is the world’s largest diversified resources company ... We have around 35 000 employees working in more than 100 operations and offices in more than 26 countries’.
• 7th paragraph: ‘Annual attributable volumes of production for some of our most significant commodities have been in the order of ...’
• Table – ‘Summary Financial Information for the BHP Billiton Group US$ million (Year ending 30 June)’.

• Graphs throughout the whole section – ‘Regional geographic breakdown of total number of employees’, ‘Employment by CSG’, ‘Diversification by market (turnover)’, ‘CSG earnings before interest and tax’, ‘Total allocated expenditure by category’, ‘Expenditure by region’ and ‘Distribution of supply spend’.

• Map – ‘BHP Billiton Locations’, and accompanying text, indirectly illustrate the scale of BHP Billiton.

• Diagram – ‘BHP Billiton stakeholders’ illustrates the range of BHP Billiton’s stakeholders using a rope graphic.

• Outlines BHP Billiton’s approach to stakeholder relationships. Detail on the specific stakeholders, who they represent, their interests and concerns and BHP Billiton’s methods for engaging them is provided in the ‘BHP Billiton’s stakeholder relationships’ table. This table contains more detail than in the previous HSEC Report.

• Provides information on the processes in place to encourage dialogue with stakeholders, including the ‘Forum on Corporate Responsibility’ and ‘Report dialogue’.

Issues relating to some key stakeholder groups are discussed in detail in this section of the Report. Information is provided on BHP Billiton’s participation in the ‘Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Corporate Community Leadership Program’, the ‘Employee Matched Giving Program’, indigenous culture and heritage initiatives, the ‘Community Relations Network’, Corporate foundations and initiatives at Ok Tedi.

• Contact details for the Vice President Sustainable Development and Community Relations are provided in ‘Directory’, including a name, email address and the website.

• hsec@bhpbilliton.com is the contact email address provided on the Feedback form.

• 2nd paragraph: ‘The statistics in this Report cover the facilities owned and operated by BHP Billiton during the 12-month period to 30 June 2004.’

• Final paragraph: ‘Our 2001, 2002 and 2003 HSEC Reports are also available on our website at www.bhpbilliton.com/bb/sustainableDevelopment/reports.jsp’.

• 2nd paragraph: ‘While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, including the figures, in this Report, the data are derived from our many operations around the world and, in some cases, grouped data are not strictly comparable.’

• 2nd paragraph: ‘Joint venture projects where we are not the operator are excluded unless expressly stated.’

• 9th paragraph: ‘During the year, there were no mergers or acquisitions that have materially affected our results. The only site that was closed during the year was our Selbaie zinc and copper operation located in Canada.’

• 3rd paragraph: ‘The Report identifies where information has been provided to facilitate year-to-year comparison of our performance without BHP Steel, which commenced trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as a separate listed company in July 2002.’

• 2nd paragraph: ‘Throughout this Report, the terms BHP Billiton, the Company and the Group refer to the combined group, including both BHP Billiton Limited and subsidiary companies and BHP Billiton Plc and subsidiary companies.’

• 2nd paragraph: ‘Joint venture projects where we are not the operator are excluded unless expressly stated.’

• This is widespread throughout the Report, in particular when comparing data from this reporting period against previous reporting periods. Information from previous reports is compared in most graphs and tables.

• 3rd paragraph: ‘The Report identifies where information has been provided to facilitate year-to-year comparison of our performance without BHP Steel, which commenced trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as a separate listed company in July 2002.’

• This GRI Navigator includes responses by BHP Billiton as to why some GRI Indicators have not been reported against in the 2004 HSEC Report.
• Where partial compliance with an indicator is demonstrated, discussion is also provided as to why this is the case.

• 2nd paragraph: ‘Reporting in accordance with the GRI guidelines is an evolving process, as our reporting systems continue to enhance the information reported. Due to the size and complexity of our business, judgements have had to be made regarding the extent of the information that can be presented in relation to each GRI indicator.’

• ‘Glossary of terms’.

• Footnotes to the table – ‘Summary financial information’ for the BHP Billiton Group US$ million.

• Footnotes to the table.

• 1st sentence: ‘During 2004, our voluntary contributions to community programs totalled US$46.5 million, comprising cash, in-kind support and management time’.

• Footnotes to the table – ‘Expenditure by region (US$ million) 2003/04’.

• 1st paragraph: ‘Over the reporting period, a Company- wide central HSEC reporting and storage system was introduced. The system, a module of our First Priority HSEC information system, has provided added rigour and consistency to our overall HSEC performance reporting.’

• 5th paragraph: ‘Over the reporting period, a number of changes have been introduced to improve the method of safety data collection and storage and clarify the definition of reporting terms ...’

• 1st paragraph: ‘Our aim is to provide a balanced and reasonable presentation of the Company’s economic, health, safety, environmental and community performance.’
• 2nd paragraph: ‘We are continuously improving our reporting systems and endeavour to present useful and accurate information. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, including the figures, in this Report, the data are derived from our many operations around the world and, in some cases, grouped data are not strictly comparable.’

• Whilst there is no direct reference to accuracy, completeness and reliability in this section of the Report, these philosophies are addressed throughout. Aspects covered are ‘Structure and responsibilities’, ‘HSEC Committee of the Board membership’, ‘Policy standards and systems’, ‘HSEC Management Standards’, ‘Risk management’, ‘Investment processes’, ‘Business conduct’, ‘Global Ethics Panel’ and ‘Audit’.

• 1st paragraph: ‘Our HSEC Management Standards include a requirement for an auditing process to check that our Charter, HSEC Policy and HSEC Management Standards are being applied and to verify performance.’
• 2nd paragraph: ‘The process provides assurance to the Group and the Board that HSEC risks are being satisfactorily managed and identifies leading practices that can be shared across the Company.’

• URS Assurance Statement.

• URS Assurance Statement provides independent assurance for the Report, as defined in the URS Assurance Statement.

• 3rd paragraph: ‘Anyone seeking to rely on information in this Report or seeking to draw detailed conclusions from the data should contact the Company for verification and assistance.’

• Contact details for the Vice President Sustainable Development and Community Relations are included in ‘Directory’.

• ‘The following websites provide additional information relevant to this Report.’

• hsec@bhpbilliton.com is the contact email address provided on the Feedback form.