In 2010, our workplace injury and illness rates decreased from 2009. The recordable injury rate decreased 14 percent while the lost-time injury rate decreased 22 percent.

In 2010, the frequency of motor vehicle accidents per million miles (APMM) in Merck-owned or leased vehicles declined by 5 percent globally. Regrettably, two Merck employees were fatally injured as a result of motor vehicle incidents during the year. Overall, injuries from motor vehicle accidents fell by approximately 4 percent in 2010.

In 2010, we logged more than 3.7 million construction hours and more than 33,300 safety observations (both corrective and positive) and have seen a reduction in recordable injuries on projects where these metrics were actively tracked. Merck uses Days Away Restricted and Transferred (DART) for assessing our construction capital projects instead of lost-time incident rate (LTIR), because DART includes restricted and transferred cases that are not included in LTIR. By utilizing DART, we can set more aggressive targets.

Our 2010 total recordable injury rate (TRIR) of 0.80 and our DART rate of 0.48, while significantly better than typical rates for private industry construction, did not meet our targets. Unfortunately, there was a significant increase in our DART rate from new projects associated with our merger with Schering-Plough in 2009, where Merck's Hearts and Minds^™ program was not yet fully implemented. Although most of these cases were not severe, a focused improvement effort has been put in place.