SAFETY HEADLINESSafety
World Steel Association Recognizes Excellence in Safety and Health
Oct. 14, 2009 The World Steel Association has recognized three member companies—Gerdau, Tata Steel, and Essar Steel—for excellence in their safety and health programs.
All three companies demonstrated a commitment to safety and health that encompassed three basic guidelines: the program positively embraced the worldsteel safety and health principles; was able to demonstrate a measurable impact upon safety metrics; and could easily be applied to other member companies.
The program at Gerdau focused on the introduction of a safety hour. Every day more than 1230 leaders spend time discussing safety issues directly with shop floor personnel throughout the company.
Tata Steel’s program concentrated on its contract workforce, who received comprehensive training prior to the construction of a new blast furnace. The new plant was built and commissioned without any injuries, recording 35 million accident-free hours during the project.
Essar Steel’s program has brought significant improvements in safety metrics; its lost time injury frequency rate has improved from 1.18 in 2005-06 to 0.57 currently, and the company has had no fatal accidents since 2007.
worldsteel launched the Safety and Health Excellence Recognition Award at its 2008 Annual General Meeting in Washington DC.
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, representing approximately 180 steel producers (including 18 of the world's 20 largest steel companies), national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. worldsteel members produce around 85% of the world's steel.