worldsteel Recognizes Six Companies for Safety and Health Excellence
10/09/2014 - The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has recognized six excellent safety and health programs from ArcelorMittal, Celsa, Essar Steel, Gerdau, Tata Steel and Ternium.
Joon-Yang Chung, worldsteel’s Chairman for 2013/2014, said: “Communication is vital to create a safer working environment which is the main purpose of this recognition. The companies recognized this year not only have shown a continued commitment to leadership in safety and health by demanding uncompromising safety standards but have also helped the industry get a step closer to the goal of an injury-free and healthy workplace by sharing their knowledge and experiences”.
All six programs demonstrated a commitment to safety and health that fulfilled three key criteria:
ArcelorMittal Tubarao Brazil introduced ‘Quality of Life Program’ aimed at a healthier life and a zero accident environment. One activity launched in 2000, a health campaign focused at reducing smoking amongst its employees and reached the goal in 2010 with no employees smoking during working hours. The set of actions from the program resulted in the improvement of employees’ health indicators, which reflected on productivity. The company currently has 92% of its employees on its ‘best health profile’. The program can be perfectly applied to other companies with minor adjustments.
Celsa Huta Ostrowiec Poland implemented a safety program ‘Brother’s keeper’. It involves employees volunteering to go into groups of two where they then complete their tasks on a daily basis to ensure neither gets hurt. Each participant accepts the commitment to safeguard their ‘brother’ at all times to ensure that they do not have an accident or become exposed to risks. The program resulted in a rapid acceptance of safety feedback at all levels and helped reduce injury rates by more than 60% in one year.
Essar Steel Hazira India has built a sustainable Health, Safety and Environment Management System. The company appointed safety marshals to oversee safety practices and introduced a competency assessment for all contractors working in the facility. In order to establish a behavior based safety culture, the company organized a series of events including Safety and Fire Week celebrations, Safety skits, Mass safety rallies, Safety Month and Environment Day celebrations. These initiatives have greatly contributed to improve the safety and health standards in the company.
Gerdau Brazil developed Safety behavior management assessment. It is comprised of six evaluation points which are focused on people’s behavior. The company’s safety corporate team assesses each plant twice a year and produces a specific report with details on the areas for improvements as well as recommendations. Thanks to the program, the company’s special steel plants in Brazil were able to increase the average level of the check points from 1.0 in 2011 to 3.1 in 2013.
Tata Steel Europe Netherlands in 2012, launched ‘Time out for hand injuries’ program, specifically aiming at reducing hand and finger injuries which accounted for 60% of all injuries in the past two years. An innovative and interactive workshop and discussion were held to raise awareness and bring attention to personal consequences of hand injuries. The program helped to reduce hand and finger injuries by 42 % and all injuries by 30% in the first year. This led to a cost saving of Euro 100,000 per annum. It has been transferred to other parts of Tata Steel.
Ternium Argentina/Mexico implemented a ‘Logistics Safety Preventive Action Plan’ to prevent accidents in the supply chain department. An analysis identified four main areas of concern: securing loads, working on the platform, loading and unloading, and warehouse and coil yard personnel access. The company implemented safety practices designed to address each area and it resulted in 90% reduction on the LTIFR since its launch in 2009.
Photos of the 2014 Safety and Health Excellence Recognition are available here
All six programs demonstrated a commitment to safety and health that fulfilled three key criteria:
- The program positively embraced the worldsteel safety and health principles
- The program was able to demonstrate a positive impact upon safety metrics
- The program could easily be applied to other member companies
ArcelorMittal Tubarao Brazil introduced ‘Quality of Life Program’ aimed at a healthier life and a zero accident environment. One activity launched in 2000, a health campaign focused at reducing smoking amongst its employees and reached the goal in 2010 with no employees smoking during working hours. The set of actions from the program resulted in the improvement of employees’ health indicators, which reflected on productivity. The company currently has 92% of its employees on its ‘best health profile’. The program can be perfectly applied to other companies with minor adjustments.
Celsa Huta Ostrowiec Poland implemented a safety program ‘Brother’s keeper’. It involves employees volunteering to go into groups of two where they then complete their tasks on a daily basis to ensure neither gets hurt. Each participant accepts the commitment to safeguard their ‘brother’ at all times to ensure that they do not have an accident or become exposed to risks. The program resulted in a rapid acceptance of safety feedback at all levels and helped reduce injury rates by more than 60% in one year.
Essar Steel Hazira India has built a sustainable Health, Safety and Environment Management System. The company appointed safety marshals to oversee safety practices and introduced a competency assessment for all contractors working in the facility. In order to establish a behavior based safety culture, the company organized a series of events including Safety and Fire Week celebrations, Safety skits, Mass safety rallies, Safety Month and Environment Day celebrations. These initiatives have greatly contributed to improve the safety and health standards in the company.
Gerdau Brazil developed Safety behavior management assessment. It is comprised of six evaluation points which are focused on people’s behavior. The company’s safety corporate team assesses each plant twice a year and produces a specific report with details on the areas for improvements as well as recommendations. Thanks to the program, the company’s special steel plants in Brazil were able to increase the average level of the check points from 1.0 in 2011 to 3.1 in 2013.
Tata Steel Europe Netherlands in 2012, launched ‘Time out for hand injuries’ program, specifically aiming at reducing hand and finger injuries which accounted for 60% of all injuries in the past two years. An innovative and interactive workshop and discussion were held to raise awareness and bring attention to personal consequences of hand injuries. The program helped to reduce hand and finger injuries by 42 % and all injuries by 30% in the first year. This led to a cost saving of Euro 100,000 per annum. It has been transferred to other parts of Tata Steel.
Ternium Argentina/Mexico implemented a ‘Logistics Safety Preventive Action Plan’ to prevent accidents in the supply chain department. An analysis identified four main areas of concern: securing loads, working on the platform, loading and unloading, and warehouse and coil yard personnel access. The company implemented safety practices designed to address each area and it resulted in 90% reduction on the LTIFR since its launch in 2009.
Photos of the 2014 Safety and Health Excellence Recognition are available here
