public. We’re continuing to improve our employee and public safety performance through risk reduction and process improvement. Our goal will always be zero incidents, and we’ve set milestones on our path to be in the top 10 percent of our industry in employee and contractor safety by the end of 2017. While we made progress in 2016 in our three key employee safety metrics, we have more work to do. And, in the moments when customers need us most, we’re responding faster than ever before. In 2016, we began targeting a 45-minute response time for natural gas emergencies, 15 minutes faster than the industry standard. We safely achieved this goal for 96 percent of our emergency orders by taking the necessary steps to ensure our processes, systems and people are as efficient as possible and in the right INDUSTRY-LEADING SAFETY PERFORMANCE From the employees we hire to the way we park our vehicles, safety and reducing risk serve as the foundation for the way we do business. We have a fundamental desire to keep our customers, business partners, communities and employees safe. We partnered with the National Safety Council on a survey to better understand the overall health of our safety culture. The survey results helped us identify various areas of improvement that we’ll be implementing in 2017, and we have plans to conduct the survey annually. OUR GOAL WILL ALWAYS BE ZERO INCIDENTS, AND WE’VE SET MILESTONES ON OUR PATH TO BE IN THE TOP 10 PERCENT OF OUR INDUSTRY IN EMPLOYEE AND CONTRACTOR SAFETY BY THE END OF 2017. 6 place at the right time. We’re also reducing damages to our facilities by educating and building awareness with contractors and other third parties who may be digging around our lines. We increased our efforts in these areas with additional public service announcements, customer outreach and community programs to build public awareness and increase 811 use. These efforts contributed to a 14 percent decline in system damages in 2016. SERVING OUR CUSTOMERS AND COMMUNITIES At the center of our commitment to serve our customers is our desire to improve their experience and make it easy to do business with us by introducing new services, improving processes and REDUCING RISK IN ACTION: ELIMINATING MOBILE DEVICE USE WHILE DRIVING In 2016, we embraced a new policy that bans the use of mobile devices while driving for work. We believe our policy change is making a difference, as we’ve seen a decrease in vehicle collisions and our employees are changing driving behaviors. M E A S U R E 2 0 1 7 Y E A R - E N D M I L E S T O N E 2 0 1 6 S T A T U S 2 0 1 5 S T A T U S C U R R E N T P E R F O R M A N C E D A R T R A T E * R E C O R D A B L E I N J U R Y R A T E V E H I C L E C O L L I S I O N R A T E I N D U S T R Y T O P - D E C I L E I N D U S T R Y T O P - D E C I L E I N D U S T R Y T O P - D E C I L E 0 . 8 2 1 . 5 5 1 . 8 3 1 . 0 3 1 . 7 4 2 . 1 4 T O P Q U A R T I L E T O P Q U A R T I L E T O P Q U A R T I L E * D A Y S A W A Y , R E S T R I C T E D O R T R A N S F E R R E D 60 MILLION M I L E S DRIVEN EACH YEAR IN COMPANY VEHICLES The NiSource Mobile Device Policy aligns with our industry-leading safety commitment. Vehicle collisions, including those involving distracted driving, remain a leading risk we face each day. “ “ DAVE MONTE NISOURCE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SAFETY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRAINING 7