SAFETY, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2004
Safety Matters
Never has safety had a higher profile in Brunner Mond as it does today. Over the past three years of our Safety Project we have put in an incredible amount of effort to improve. Safety is not really about accidents and statistics it is about the culture of the organisation and the attitude of the people who work in it.
We have taken a fundamental look at the way that we manage safety and safety improvement. Of course there are rules and regulations that we must follow and we have also done a lot to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. These are the 'hard tangible end of safety' - safe working systems, permits to work, risk assessment, asbestos management and control, reporting and investigation of accidents and incidents etc. But we have also addressed the "softer side" of safety:- personal safety awareness, safety behaviours, safety committees and contractor safety forums.
Improving performance through the Safety Project 
Brunner Mond received a "Best Health Initiative" award from British Glass for its 2 day Health & Safety Fayre. The fayre was open to employees and their families and concentrated on health awareness issues including cancer, stress, healthy eating, exercise and smoking as well as health checks such as body mass index, weight, cholesterol levels. Also taking part were external experts including the Fire Brigade, Chiropractors, Police PPE suppliers, Aromatherapists and First Aiders. In presenting the safety award to Deborah Whitworth-Hilton (Safety Project Manager) Hugh Robertson of the HSE said "it just goes to show how you can both raise safety awareness in the workforce and engage staff at the same time in a fun and interactive way.
2004 was the final year of the 3 year Safety Project and was the year of communication and implementation. All of the 8 Themes delivered their aims and the momentum that the Safety Project has started is set to continue as it is integrated into the fabric of the organisation and the daily activities of the UK operations.
Apart from the ongoing achievements of the project, particular highlights of 2004 included the training of a high number of behavioural safety observers, Risk Assessors and Safety Auditors, a successful Stage 1 audit for OHSAS 18001 and a presentation to the I.Chem.E. Hazchem Symposium.
One particular cornerstone of the project has been Risk Assessment. It is a basic legal requirement that all employers assess the risks of their activities to their employees, visitors, customers and anyone who may be affected by them. The Safety Project used the opportunity to build a robust risk assessment procedure into the fundamental safety management system.
An improvement in our Safety Culture is recognisable in people's attitudes to safety and their behaviours at both work and home. The overall number of accidents has reduced with a greater reduction in the severity of the accidents that do happen.
A Safety Management System has been developed that provides the structure on which to focus all safety related activities. This SMS has set us in good stead for certification to OHSAS 18001 during the Spring of 2005.
With a continually improving safety culture, a robust and user-friendly Safety Management System and a proven approach to risk assessment, the benefits of the project will continue to flow for the organisation as a whole.
Some highlights of the second Health & Safety Fayre held in 2004
Healthy Workforce
The company provide a rolling programme of routine health checks for all employees. The service is provided through Ashling, our occupational health service provider based at our Lostock site. The health check is comprehensive and includes blood pressure, sight test, audiometry, lung function, etc. Ashling also provide a weekly drop-in surgery on a Wednesday at our Winnington site. There are also compulsory medicals carried out for our shift workers and for employees who drive forklift trucks.
 Every year since 1999 we have been offering free flu jabs to our employees. In 2004 89 people took up the offer.
Training Programmes
As part of the safety project work we have been working to achieve regular and consistent safety training for all our employees. We have a new training procedure assisting in the implementation of the best training packages.
We run Shift and Maintenance Training Days which follow a robust and effective 3-year rolling programme and during 2004 we have introduced Office Based Training Days to make sure everybody receives the necessary safety training.
First Aid - practice makes perfect!!
Brunner Mond is quite rightly proud of its team of first aiders. These are trained individuals who as well as their normal job are able to provide front-line cover in the event of an accident or emergency. The two critical elements of first aid are training and practice and particularly the latter.
There is nothing like being out there putting those acquired skills to the test and we know from past experience that rapid first aid response minimises injury and significantly reduces the impact of an incident.
Yet again in 2004 we put our first aiders under the spotlight with a planned strategic incident. In these circumstances they are not only expected to treat the casualties, they find they also have to talk their way through exactly what they are doing and why. They can then be judged on their performance and the learning points and experience can be used to improve their reference for the real situation. |
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Safety Project – Approval to OHSAS 18001
Excellent work done during the last 3 years on the safety project has resulted in significant progress being made in improving safety within the company. To help maintain and further improve safe systems we decided at the beginning of the project to develop a safety management system along similar lines to the environmental management system. The basis for the safety system is the legal requirement to carry out risk assessments for all work activities.
The assessment process started in December 04 with a 2 day stage 1 audit. During this visit a Lloyds assessor looked at our system design and documentation. This visit went well although a number of system improvements were identified that need closing out before we can achieve approval. We are currently working to improve our system in line with these recommendations. The next Lloyds visit, stage 2 of the assessment process, is scheduled for 11th – 14th April 2005 and will focus on system implementation. The Assessor will be not only be looking at our documentation he will also be touring plant areas talking to employees and contractors satisfying himself that the system is working in practice . If we are successful and get approval to the standard we will receive 6 monthly surveillance visits by Lloyds to check we are still compliant with the standard.
Asbestos Management under the spotlight
During October the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Brunner Mond to discuss our approach to the changes made in May to the Asbestos Regulations. We took the visiting Inspector through the systems we had put in place and the work we had planned for 2005 and beyond. He was satisfied with what had been done so far and stated that he would like to revisit in 12 – 18 months to review our progress.
Safety Performance
The recorded accident data shows that all accidents (employees and contractors) peaked in 2001 and have steadily reduced since then. This picture is not quite reflected in the HSE reportable injuries which for employees and contractors have remained static with an employee HSE reportable injury rate of 0.8 injuries per 100,000 hours worked.
However as the full benefits of the safety project are delivered we expect to see an ongoing reduction in accidents as we eliminate root causes and support the changes in attitude of our people.
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