Safety
The Company has defined precise general guidelines for health and safety at work, based on three main pillars: safety management as an integrating part of Company management, constant commitment to provide human and financial resources, and technologies necessary for ensuring safety, commitment to inform, train and involve workers in order to carry out their duties safely.
The Company adopted a management system of health and safety at work able to integrate safety objectives and policy in the planning and management of working and production systems.
The main features of H&S management system are:
- review and updating of operational practices
- constant updating of risk assessment
- development of technical, organizational and management procedures
- workers' involvement, information and training
- adoption of performance indicators on prevention
- adoption of a control and assessment system for contractors
- strengthening of Prevention and Protection Service
The adopted H&S management system is conforming to the requirements of the International Standard called British Standard OHSAS:2007 (Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Series), and national UNI-INAIL Guide Lines. In October 2008, the Works H&S management system obtained the certification by Sincert in conformance with the above mentioned standards and guide lines. In March 2008, the Company adopted a Model for Organization and Management in line with the requirements set by the Italian Law Decree no. 231/01, and appointed a Supervising Authority having independent decisional and control powers with regard to the application of the Model.
BRITISH STANDARD OHSAS 18001
It is a voluntary standard, acknowledged at international level, issued in 1999 and reviewed in 2007, which specifies the requirements for the realization of a Safety Management System. The Standard goal is to help companies to develop policies and objectives promoting safety, on the basis of law requirements and hazards at workplace. The Occupational H&S Management System may be certified by an accredited external body. A certified management system represents an assurance first of all towards workers and company, and secondly towards all the other stakeholders.
An effective occupational H&S management needs the support and contribution of everybody, so the Company involves the workers into regular activities on H&S at work.
The main intervention areas to improve the management system and reduce accident rate are:
- Workers' involvement, information and communication;
- Workers' training.
The tools used in the Works to promote workers' involvement, to ensure information and improve communication are safety meetings, audits and simulations.
Safety meetings are an important involvement tool to communicate and point out possible problems. At the same time, they are a training and testing tool. The aim is to deal with safety issues by involving the workers of different responsibility levels.
The audits are activities held to verify the correct application of prevention and protection measures. Their aim is to verify personnel’s behaviour with regard to working procedures and proper use of personal protection equipment, and to verify plant, infrastructure, and workplace safe conditions.
Simulations represent a way to make workers used to facing emergency situations properly and with timeliness. Simulations also make possible to check and assess behaviours, knowledge of emergency operational procedures, and man-equipment system efficiency and suitability.
Training is considered as a fundamental element for prevention and safety. In the latest years, training activities have been greatly consolidated. The Training Programme adopted in the Works with regard to health and safety takes into account the different organizational, technical and operational aspects: safe working operational practices and procedures, plant compliance with safety requirements, use of protective equipment, management of hazardous substances and emergency procedures, risks, personal protection equipment and prevention measures.
ILVA OCCUPATIONAL H&S MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION
- Safety Manual - Occupational H&S Management System reference document which gives a general description of the Company and the elements composing the system;
- Management Procedures - dealing with relevant topics concerning Occupational H&S Management System and requiring behaviour conformance;
- Operational Procedures - dealing with relevant topics concerning Occupational H&S Management System and requiring behaviour conformance;
- Operational practices - defining requirements and modalities for carrying out a particular operation having the feature of repetitiveness both from the technical and the management point of view.