During 2010 ESAB regrets that one of its employees was killed in a road accident in Mexico, whilst travelling from his home office to the Monterrey facility on 19 July. There were no on-site fatalities during the year.
Charter set targets in 2009 for improvements in safety performance. The table below summarises the targets and how Charter performed and the Company is very pleased to have exceeded all targets set.
Since 2007 the total number of lost time injuries (any injury that results in an employee being unable to return to work the following shift/day) has fallen from 232 to 99 in 2010, a 53.3 per cent decrease. The hours worked have increased during the same period resulting in the frequency rate, which is calculated per 200,000 hours worked, falling from 2.31 to 0.79, a 65.9% decrease.
In order to continue to maintain this downward trend, work has been gathering pace on developing a safety culture aimed at achieving zero lost time injuries. Charter’s aim is to embed consistent, visible leadership and commitment from all employees, such that they are mindful of EHS matters, including responsibility for their own personal safety as well as protecting their co-workers and others who could be affected by our operations.
Charter continues to invest in employee training and is planning to extend leadership training and safety observation programmes beyond North America where they have been piloted. These programmes have become an important factor in improving performance.
Since 2008, Charter has been encouraging sites to report all first aid injuries, near misses and unsafe conditions to enable actions to be taken before more serious injuries occur. In 2010 10,195 such incidents were reported, more than doubling the 2009 figure.
The safety data above refers to employees only. Charter also records and investigates lost time injuries to contractors, of which there were six reported in 2010.
Health and safety awards and recognitions
Howden’s UK Construction and Maintenance Division retained its British Safety Council 5-star rating for its safety practices on customers’ sites.
Since 2007 the total number of days lost as a result of injuries has fallen from 5,718 to 3,153 in 2010, a 49.5% decrease. Weekends and holidays are included within this total. The severity rate, calculated per 200,000 hours worked has fallen from 57.1 to 25.3, a decrease of 55.7%. However, during 2010 the rate of improvement has decreased for various reasons.
A key contributing factor to the decreasing rate of improvement in the severity rate is the long absence from work associated with musculoskeletal injuries, an issue which has not, so far, been tackled as successfully as others. There are also wide variations in the way injured workers are treated in the various countries where Charter has operations, which can affect the ease of rehabilitation.
Where Charter can influence severity performance, action is being taken. For example, Charter has already completed a £1million capital expenditure project on a semi-automated packaging line for 50lb cans of electrodes in ESAB Hanover USA. Further ergonomic programmes are planned for 2011.
| Health and safety performance data | ||||
| 2009 Actual |
2010 Target |
2010 Actual |
2011 Target |
|
| Lost time injuries per 200,000 hours worked | 1.17 | <1.00 | 0.79 | <0.62 |
| Lost days per 200,000 hours worked | 29.5 | <26.5 | 25.3 | <20.0 |
| Reporting of near misses and unsafe conditions | 3,400 | Increase by 20% in 2010 to over 4,000 |
10,195 | >12,500 |