worldsteel publishes safety position paper

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has published its position paper on safety and health.

worldsteel — as the name suggests — represents around 85% of the world’s steel production, including over 150 steel producers, with nine of the 10 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes.

The association has reiterated its commitment to safety and health principles, stating a belief that “nothing is more important than the safety and health of people who work in the steel industry”.

“Protecting the safety and health of everyone who works in or around the steel industry is of vital importance to all worldsteel members. The duty of care and social responsibility demands that everyone should be able to work in a safe and healthy work environment,” said Edwin Basson, director general of worldsteel.

“The steel industry has achieved a significant reduction of 71% in its lost-time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) over the last decade. Whilst the figure shows impressive improvement, there is still much progress to be made until we reach the ultimate target for the industry — zero incidents.”

Six safety and health principles published in the paper include:

• All injuries and work-related illness can and must be prevented
• Managers are responsible and accountable for safety and health performance
• Employee engagement and training is essential
• Working safely is a condition of employment
• Excellence in safety and health drives excellent business results
• Safety and health must be integrated into all business management processes.

worldsteel also celebrated the third Steel Safety Day, which was aligned with the International Labor Organization’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April.

Launched to create a safer working environment across the entire steel industry worldwide, Basson said that in 2016 industry will focus on ‘falling from height’, which is one of the five most common causes of incidents in the steel industry.   

Ahead of the safety day, worldsteel requests all its members to carry out a safety audit. In 2015, more than 525,000 employees and contractors representing 49 member companies actively took part in the audit.

“The Steel Safety Day audits have had a major positive effect in identifying the hazards in the workplace. Participating worldsteel members are now developing mitigation plans for 100% of the hazards identified to ensure serious injuries no longer occur,” the worldsteel position paper stated.

Infographic courtesy of worldsteel