2010	2009	2008	2007
Employees by regions and divisions
Group	48,430	47,731	51,908
Gases Division	37,603	37,362	41,109	39,577
Western Europe	12.674	12.814	13,616	13,284
Americas	6,977	6,970	7,881	7,554
Asia & Eastern Europe	11,375	10,983	11,735	11,309
South Pacific & Africa	6,577	6,595	7,877	7,430
Engineering Division	5,811	5,716	5,951	5,637
Other activities	5,016	4,653	4,848	5,271
Employment structure in percent
Permanent staff under 30 years old	16.4	17.0	18.6	17.5
Permanent staff between 30 and 50 years old	59.6	60.1	58.9	59.8
Permanent staff over 50 years old	24.0	22.9	22.5	22.7
Proportion of women	19.3	19.9	20.2	19.4
Proportion of women in senior management positions	10.3	9.3	9.1	7.8
Proportion of severely disabled employees in Germany	3.5	3.3	3.3	3.3
Employees by type of contract in percent
Proportion of part-time employees	1.9	1.8	1.7	N/A
Proportion of employees with limited contracts	4.31	1.8	4.7	N/A
Proportion of staff covered by collective wage agreements	54.9	55.3	50.6	51.2
Training
Proportion of trainees in percent	1.3	1.4	1.7	1.0
Proportion of apprentices and trainees in Germany in percent	3.5	3.7	3.4	3.4
Proportion of employees who have taken up training opportunities in percent	59.1	53.8	56.9	54.1
Average number of training days per employee	2.0	1.6	1.8	1.5
Average expenditure on training programmes per employee in €	241	216	281	323
Employee retention
Staff turnover rate2 in percent	5.7	4.2	6.6	7.2
Average length of service in years	9.7	10.1	8.5	8.6
Expenditures
Personnel costs per employee in 1,000 €	52.2	48.6	45.9	48.5

Figure included in the Management Report of The Linde Group’s Annual Report 2010 .
1 In 2010, the definition was adapted. Previously, all contracts concluded for 24 months or longer were reported as unlimited-term contracts. From 2010 on, fixed term shall include all contracts with a specific termination date.
2 The staff turnover rate relates to employees who have left the Group voluntarily during the financial year.

> More on employees, working conditions, training, demographic change and diversity  

	2010	2009	2008	2007
Workplace safety
Number of workplace accidents per million hours worked by employees (LTIR)	1.9	2.0	2.1	2.6
Number of workplace accidents per million hours worked by contractors (LTIR)	2.2	1.7	1.8	1.7
Number of workplace accidents with at least one day of absence	198	202	216	275
Number of working days lost due to industrial accidents	3,813	3,768	3,596	4,424
Number of working days lost per million hours worked	36.9	37.3	34.1	42.3
Number of fatalities involving employees	2	3	2	6
Number of fatalities involving contractors	4	7	5	9
Health
Average number of days sick leave per employee	5.3	5.5	5.6	3.6

 Within KPMG assurance scope. The assurance report for the reporting year 2010 is available here.
Figure included in the Management Report of The Linde Group’s Annual Report 2010 

> More on the definition of key indicators
> More on occupational health and safety

> More on the definition of health and safety key indicators 

 We have adapted and consolidated our Human Resources indicators to reflect The Linde Group’s organisational structure. The figures are reported as full-time equivalents, with 31 December as the closing date for each year. Wherever possible, we benchmark our HR indicators against the same-period figures reported over the previous four years.

We highlight any indicators that are also included in The Linde Group’s 2010 Annual Report. The Group Management Report was audited by KPMG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft.

> More on sustainability indicators  and on the definitions of health and safety indicators