As part of its commitment to the highest safety and health standards, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) recognises excellence in six of its member companies for delivering demonstrable improvements in safety and health for steel industry employees.
Andrew Purvis, Director, Safety, Health and Environment, said, “2017 was the safest year on record within the steel industry. It was also the first year that our industry’s headline Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) fell below 1.0, a reduction of harm of around 80% since 2006. While we celebrate this success and the contribution of all our members, this should be seen as a milestone on the way to a truly zero harm industry, rather than a destination in its own right. We may have crossed a symbolic line, but the drive to eliminate all workplace injuries must continue. I wish to congratulate all the members recognised this year and hope that by sharing these initiatives we can inspire other steelmakers to improve their own performance.”
The recognised practices of the member companies are assessed on four criteria:
- How the organisation demonstrates the application of the six worldsteel safety and health principles
- Metrics used to test the project or system have a positive impact on the organisation’s injury statistics
- Improvement in maturity level on the Bradley Curve™, a tool to help organisations understand the point they’re at in their journey towards an effective safety culture
- Relevance and applicability to other worldsteel members
The recognised member companies are:
FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY MANAGEMENT
EZZ Steel/EZDK, Egypt – Newcomers’ safety improvement programme
The critical need to improve the safety of newcomers was raised following a series of accidents involving workers with less than one year’s experience in 2013 and 2014. Newcomers are most at risk to injuries in the industry due to peer pressure, their high enthusiasm and lack of experience. The response is based on three main pillars. Identification of the newcomers, who are provided with a different colour helmet, training both in the classroom and on-the-job, and proper supervision. These simple and easy-to-implement ideas were key to the success of the programme. No injuries involving newcomers have been recorded since November 2014.
Liberty OneSteel, Australia – Overhead crane magnets
Overhead crane magnets constitute a significant safety risk with 68 steel drops over two and a half years, an average of three per month. The Overhead Crane Magnet Headlight Team was formed in April 2016 following a spate of 16 magnet drops during a three-month period. After extensive review, the Team’s investigation revealed that 80% of all drops were related to behaviour. Based on the belief that all magnet drops are preventable, an Action Plan was created which involved developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), appointing ‘Magnet Champions’ and ‘Buddy Trainers’, retraining and recertification of all operators and a CAPEX upgrade of two head to four head cranes in high risk areas, as well as a redesign of the shed bays. The Team’s forensic focus on practices has achieved a significant downward trend in magnet drops over the past 12 months.
Ternium, Mexico – Advanced technology application for safe operation in yards
Ternium’s ‘Safe Operation in Yards Programme’ has two main objectives. The first is to reduce personnel risks by eliminating interactions between people, mobile equipment and products and the second is to standardise the best and safest practices and control mechanisms. The project addresses five key issues: layout of the yards, standard racks, mobile equipment, high technology practices and practices and controls. The implementation of the programme has resulted in eliminating the need for a staff member to physically locate a steel coil in the warehouse, a reduction in inventory time of 86%, a production location time reduction from ten minutes to no time at all and a reduction of 71% in overall risk.
FOR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT
USIMINAS, Brazil – ‘Projeto Superar’
‘Projecto Superar’ (‘Surpass Yourself Project’) started in 2014, using as a basis the mapping of the number of work leave days related to musculoskeletal causes and injuries caused by motorcycle employees among USIMINAS employees, which accounted for 30% of the total work absences. The main goal of the project is to guide employees to the appropriate care to prevent injuries related to the musculoskeletal system caused by sports and traffic accidents, as well as offering a multidisciplinary educational and therapeutic approach for employees with axial skeletal disorders and shoulder and knee issues. Since its implementation ‘Projeto Superar’ has contributed to an increase in health maturity throughout the company. For musculoskeletal problems there was a reduction of 75% in the number of days lost on sick leave of up to 15 days and a reduction of 70% in the number of days lost on sick leave exceeding 15 days in the year following the project’s implementation.
FOR PROCESS SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Essar Steel – Revisiting process safety elements
Essar Steel believes in building a sustainable safety culture through process safety management (PSM). Their journey started in December 2010 with a baseline external audit performed by a third party. After completing a series of initiatives relating to process safety including setting up an online PSM portal, an online management of change (MOC) system, launching company-wide PSM campaigns, screening of PSM films, and a mandatory 15-day on the job safety training for both contractors and employees, process safety related incidents were brought down to zero. In 2017, as part of a continual improvement plan, Essar Steel revisited the selected process safety elements at the micro level. Subsequently, a series of systems and procedures were to prevent high potential (HIPO) incidents. All critical recommendations are tracked via an online Health, Safety and Environment portal as part of the annual goal setting and improvement plan.
Tata Steel Limited – Process safety journey through its Centre of Excellence (CoE)
Excellence in process safety management is one of Tata Steel’s key safety strategies to achieve its corporate objective, ‘Committed to Zero’. With the aim of making process safety a ‘way of life’, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) concept was introduced in two of the high-hazard manufacturing units in 2016 and was extended to three more in 2018. Advanced tools, such as hazard and operability studies (HAZOPs), consequence modelling through process hazard analysis software (PHAST), bow-tie analysis and layer of protection analysis (LOPA) are used to improve the quality of hazard identification and risk assessment. Today, benefits are clearly visible in the reduction of high severity process incidents and the increase in reporting of low severity near misses.
More detailed information on each of these initiatives can be found in the Safety and Health Recognition Programme 2018 publication available on worldsteel.org along with information on worldsteel’s other safety programmes.
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world. worldsteel members represent approximately 85% of the world’s steel production, including over 160 steel producers with 9 of the 10 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes.