Safety@Work – generates results
The Safety@Work program is one example. It was launched in 2005 and has drastically reduced the number of workplace accidents by involving plant management and employees in all aspects of health and safety.
With a documented health and safety policy, the Group can save substantial amounts of money on its insurance premiums, for example.
“We have made outstanding progress in developing procedures and improving practices to minimize health and safety risks,” says Jeff Jones, General Manager of the Trelleborg Automotive plants in Morganfield, Kentucky.
Key to the Safety@Work program is a 16-point checklist, or audit, over risk factors in both factories. For example, every new piece of equipment has to be approved by management and employees for its ergonomics and potential safety issues before being put into operation.
“The employee involvement with management is what makes the Safety@Work program work so well,” says Jones. “Everyone is proud to have a high safety record, and it is something we strive hard to improve on every year.”
For example, the Morganfield Adhesive factory, which specializes in applying bonding agents to components for the Group, scored 966 points out of a possible 1,000 in its 2007 safety audit, up from 845 points in 2006, and has had zero accidents to date in 2008.
“This is really much more about a culture change than a program,” says Jones.