SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being
Our health & safety guidelines:
Human safety and health are key fundamental values at voestalpine and enjoy the highest priority.
We work to further reduce injury frequency, and to raise the health rate of all voestalpine Group employees, wherever they work and whatever their function.
We regard Group-wide minimum safety standards as the basis for a successful health & safety corporate culture.
The following minimum safety standards have been defined for the voestalpine Group:
- Each company has its own safety organization.
- Executives undertake safety audits.
- Near misses are reported, documented and the appropriate measures taken.
A web tool is used to examine the effectiveness of the corporate minimum safety standards.
The voestalpine health & safety organization is developing a health & safety culture intended to be practiced by employees throughout the Group. As well as the Chief health & safety Officer, the Board, and the Committee, managers have been appointed for this role in each division. Safety projects designed to avoid accidents and strengthen safety awareness have been started in all the divisions.
Lost Injury Frequency Rate
The two most important key performance indicators which are being uniformly tracked by the companies throughout the Group are the Lost Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) and the health quota.
The LTIFR captures the number of work-related accidents per million working hours which result in more than three lost days.
As the definitions of reportable work-related accidents, lost days, and lost working hours differ widely in the countries in which voestalpine operates, a uniform definition has been established at the Group level. The figures captured from the business year 2015/16 onwards are governed by this definition. These therefore deviate from the earlier figures. The graphic shows that due to consistently applying divisional h&s measures the number of work-related accidents has gone down continuously in the past years.
There were no fatal work-related accidents involving voestalpine employees across the entire Group in business year 2017/18.
Development of the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIRF)
As of March 31
*Change in definition of the key figures
Positive examples of lowering the Lost Injury Frequency Rate
At the voestalpine Safety Days in Linz in March 2018 the safety specialists were invited to share their experiences in implementing minimum safety standards. The event focused on learning from one another. Seven positive examples from across the divisions were highlighted by the Group’s health & safety Committee.
- Steel Division: The “selbst.verständlich” event with five focuses (injuries to hands and fingers, slings, think about joints, talk on workplace safety, short play entitled “2 minutes before work”)
- High Performance Metals Division: EH&S toolbox: harmonizing EH&S documentation, central document storage, real-time evaluation
- High Performance Metals Division: The use of robots: automation with grinding and welding robots
- Metal Engineering Division: “Bewusst sicher” campaign: program to introduce a zero-accident culture involving all hierarchical levels
- Metal Engineering Division: Safety course: ten stations covering topics related to workplace safety, first aid, and health promotion. Matching exercises for personal safety equipment, perception exercises, raising awareness of the importance of our health.
- Metal Forming Division: Ideas management: all ideas incorporated into online software, info screens provide employees with workplace safety information.
- Metal Forming Division: Practicing safety begins at the top: workplace safety as the first item in technical discussions. Site management holds return to work discussion after a reportable accident. Inspections always together with the department head.
Health quota
The health quota indicates the percentage of the target working hours during which the employees were actually present during a predefined period. The company focuses on the presence of all workers and salaried employees.
A high health quota is not only positive for the employees, but also for the company. It is an expression of an effective health policy, and the company’s responsible and respectful attitude towards its employees. Whilst making every effort to achieve a high quota, care should be taken that employees don’t come to work while ill.
Development of the health quota
As of March 31
OHSAS 18001
A large number of voestalpine Group companies already have certified occupational safety and health management systems. All of the companies of the Steel Division and the Metal Engineering Division have already been certified in accordance with OHSAS 18001, for example. As OHSAS 18001 certifications are being rolled out throughout the entire Group, more and more companies will be certified according to this occupational safety and health management.
Workplace safety and contractors/outside companies
voestalpine also endeavors to ensure that the life and health of employees of third-party companies are also protected. Binding guidelines have been issued in this regard which must be complied with by employees of contractors and third-party companies.
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