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EVRAZ Vitkovice Steel Receives Work Safety System Certification

07/04/2013 - EVRAZ Vítkovice Steel was recently certified in the international standard OHSAS 18001, and at the same time successfully extended its environmentally focused management EN ISO 14001 system certification.

One of the stated priorities of the management of EVRAZ Vítkovice Steel (EVS) is to protect the health of its employees at work and minimize the impact of company activities on the environment. The priority is confirmed by the new, successful certification of the company in the work safety system, compliant with the international standard OHSAS 18001, and at the same time a successful outcome of the extension audit of the system of environmentally focused management EN ISO 14001, which was also re-confirmed by the certification company TÜV NORD Czech.
Work in heavy industry, including the production of steel products, carries a higher risk of worker injury. It is mainly caused by the nature of work in more demanding conditions than what would be considered normal, and also by the manipulation of heavy items and/or at high temperatures.
Based on a long-term goal of the EVRAZ Group management to reduce the injury rate at its plants to zero cases, EVS management implements activities that bring measurable, positive results. In general, EVS has been injury-free for more than 200 days, and its most successful production plants for over 850 days.
It is not only a matter of reducing workplace risk, such as by the investments in the purchase of new protective equipment or systems reducing the risk of falls. The main goal is to change people's minds towards the protection of their health as a priority, so as to contribute to building a modern company culture. The main purpose of the application of the OHSAS 18001 standard is to motivate all employees of the company to propose, and the management to introduce, such proactive and corrective measures that wherever applicable, would eliminate, reduce, or isolate risk to employees. Where this isn’t possible, work activities must be planned and managed by organizational measures so that their performance is safe, and health is free from risk.
"The health protection of our employees is a priority for the entire EVRAZ, and is a never-ending process. Its goal is simple, yet very important. We want every employee who comes to work to return home to his or her family healthy. The obtained OHSAS certification proves to our company that we take the goal seriously," said Dmitrij Ščuka, chairman of the board, EVRAZ Vítkovice Steel, a.s.
Both above listed successful audits, including frequent inspections by the state supervisory authorities that occurred without any significant comments on the performance of our duties, confirm that EVS does not "just" meet statutory standards, but carries out appropriate activities above and beyond the legal requirements.