MYTILINEOS Holdings Sustainability Report
2014
MYTILINEOS Holdings Sustainability Report
2014
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The exact number of accidents was four (4), all of which involved male
employees. Three accidents occurred in the Metallurgy & Mining Sector
(at the Electrolysis and Anodes Departments of ALUMINIUM OF GREECE)
and one in the EPC Projects Sector (at a METKA S.A. construction site in
Jordan). Each of these accidents caused an interruption of work, due to
injuries sustained by employees in their limbs and one lumbar contu-
sion suffered by one employee. The main causes of these accidents were
related to the employees' failure to identify the risks involved and to the
breach of the safety rules and guidelines established in the MYTILINEOS
Group subsidiaries.
All incidents were analysed using the "Root Cause Analysis” method
and investigated thoroughly, the results were understood and relevant
corrective actions were planned (including, for each action, a person in
charge, a deadline and a completion date), with the aim of informing em-
ployees and preventing any conditions which could cause such accidents
to happen again from arising. More specifically:
METKA S.A. (Construction Site):
• Unnecessary materials were systematically removed from work
areas.
• Special training in work instructions was carried out for employ-
ees.
ALUMINIUM OF GREECE (Electrolysis Department):
• An action plan was developed, focusing on raising the awareness
of the Management hierarchy and of personnel.
• An action plan for repairing anomalies on the Department's floor
was developed, in collaboration with the Production Support De-
partment.
• Management Safety Visits (MSVs) to the Electrolysis and Cast
House Departments were stepped up and the Safe Professional
Move (SPM) instructions were revised.
• The number of "Risk Identification" forms completed by Shift Fore-
men was increased.
• Daily meetings of the Functional Organisational Units (FOUs) were
held to discuss safety issues.
• All work methods were revised, placing emphasis on any unclear
points.
ALUMINIUM OF GREECE (Anodes Department):
• The technical solutions related to the accident were implemented.
• The dangerous points/interventions in the Anodes transporters
were recorded by the Anodes Furnace Functional Organisational
Unit (FOU).
• Management Safety Visits (MSVs) were made outside the morning
working hours.
• The adherence to the Safety Instructions by the employees was
inspected.
• “Zero tolerance walks” were established by the Department's Chief
Foreman.
• Interviews/visits to the work posts by the Supervisor and the Chief
Foreman of the Department were made.
In the Metallurgy & Mining sector, the Group evaluates its performance
against the performance of similar plants and intensifies its efforts for
continuous improvement. The investigation of accidents shows the
need for a comprehensive assessment of the risks present at the work-
place, in tandem with the need for constant alertness in order to pre-
vent accidents. In this respect, ALUMINIUM OF GREECE already applies
procedures for recording and investigating potential serious accidents
and the necessary corrective measures are taken. In the Sustainability
Report 2015, the Safety indicators will be expanded to also include refer-
ences to potentially serious accidents recorded across the entire range
of the Plant’s operations, together with relevant qualitative data.
Health is an equally important part of our sustainable and responsible
growth in the Metallurgy & Mining Sector and one in which the Group
has been consistently investing through ALUMINIUM OF GREECE since
its establishment. In 2014, the Company succeeded in reporting, for the
fourth consecutive year, nil incidents related to occupational diseases
This is due to the implementation of the
Occupational Risk Assess-
ment (ORA)
procedure, which refers to all factors in the work environ-
ment which can affect the health of employees and aims to constantly
improve work conditions. The ORA is a quantitative tool that relies on
measurements of harmful factors, which as a rule are carried out us-
ing personal samplers and, in general, measurement instruments that
employees carry on their person during the working day. After math-
ematical processing, these measurements are compared to the expo-
sure limit values determined by the laws in force. The processing of
this data offers the possibility of establishing a complete record of the
exposure of employees and of developing a comprehensive action plan
in order to maintain the target of “ZERO OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES AT
WORK”. Today, a total of eight (8) harmful factors are monitored sys-
tematically, including noise, dust, fluorine compounds, sulphur dioxide,
carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, thermal shock
and beryllium.
Managing the safety of the personnel of independent contractors is a par-
ticular challenge for the Group’s subsidiaries, which can be successfully
met mainly through initiatives aimed at changing the current attitude to-
wards accident prevention. This Report presents in a separate section, for
the first time, the Health & Safety indicators for the personnel of contractors
working for the Group in various activities. According to these indicators,
11 accidents with interruption of work occurred in 2014, of which five in the
Metallurgy and Mining Sector and six in EPC Projects Sector.
In the Metallurgy & Mining Sector, the accidents occurred in three
different contractor businesses working within the premises of the
ALUMINIUM OF GREECE plant and involved fractured limbs, with one
of them involving the partial amputation of a distal phalanx. These in-
juries were caused primarily by improper handling of equipment and
tools. The corrective actions taken involved technical improvements in
the equipment and the adoption of measures to improve ergonomics
for employees and were also accompanied by revisions and additions
to work methods.
Health & Safety Indicators
Personnel of the Group’s independent
contractors
2014
Injury Rate (IR)
IR (Total)
0.46
IR (Men)
0.45
IR (Women)
0.00
Occupational Diseases Rate (ODR)
ODR (Total)
0.00
ODR (Men)
0.00
ODR (Women)
0.00
Lost Days Rate (LDR)
LDR (Total)
7.76
LDR (Men)
7.85
LDR (Women)
0.00
Absenteeism Rate (AR)
AR (Total)
0.00%
AR (Men)
0.00%
AR (Women)
0.00%
Safety of the personnel of independent contractors
In addition to the actions carried out after the accidents, a number of
specific initiatives for raising personnel awareness also contributed to
accident prevention. These initiatives were carried out in collaboration
with members of the PHSC (Plant Health and Safety Committee) and
involved the following:
• Placing posters at the plant's entry gate and at selected locations
inside it, on subjects such as the use of seatbelts, the use of per-
sonal protection equipment, driving and using mobile phones.
• Placing posters at the plant bus stops, designed to raise personnel
awareness of safety issues and featuring actual plant employees
as models in the poster photographs.
• Placing a mannequin in the canteen area, dressed up as an em-
ployee with the personal protection equipment which is mandato-
ry within the plant area and holding a written safety message.
In the EPC Projects sector, the accidents occurred in the construction
sites of METKA S.A. and were caused by a falling object, employees
falling into an excavation pit and obstacles on the same level. All the
accidents involved male employees and each one of them resulted in
an interruption of work for three or more days. The immediate actions
taken after the accidents involved the provision of medical care, consist-
ing in the administration of first aid at the project site and the transport
of the injured employee to an associated hospital for further treatment.
All the employees involved in the accidents have now returned to work
and the corrective actions taken were the following:
• The excavation pits were fenced off and appropriate signs were
put up.
• Unusable/waste materials were removed from the work areas.
• The employees of contractors were provided with training in work
instructions.
(G4-LA6)
