Occupational Safety
Scope of the safety reporting
This report is limited to lost time accidents that occurred to Umicore’s staff while at their workplace. Accidents that might have happened on the road to and from work are not included. Umicore’s zinc alloys business, with activities in Balen, Overpelt, Auby and Le Vigéant, was transferred to Nyrstar in September 2007. During the period January-September, 14 lost time accidents were registered for these activities. Since the safety figures for the period September–December are no longer available to Umicore, this 2007 safety review excludes the lost time accidents that occured at the Nyrstar sites.
2007 review
In 2007, two fatal accidents occurred at Umicore’s operations. In January a machine operator was killed at the site in Viviez, France while handling a zinc sheet coil. In December, a worker at a Chinese joint venture partner lost his life while filling a reactor tank. Full investigations have been carried out to explore the causes of both events and to define the necessary remedial and preventive actions.
These accidents erase any satisfaction that the company may otherwise have had regarding the overall improved Group safety performance. The company registered 79 lost time accidents, down from 117 in 2006. This resulted in a frequency rate of 5.3, down from 7.2 in 2006 but short of the target of 4 (figure 1). In total, 1,880 days were lost due to accidents resulting in a severity rate of 0.13 compared to 0.20 in 2006 and the target of 0.15 (figure 2).
Further analysis of the safety figures shows some remarkable differences between the different business units: some display an excellent performance while others put up a substandard performance. The accidents are often linked to unusual and unexpected working conditions in which the operator may experience additional pressure to perform the job (incidents, maintenance…). The sites are developing further action plans to address these issues during 2008.
New occupational safety targets
“The Umicore Way” states “not to compromise on a safe and healthy working environment for all and (to) seek continual improvement of our occupational health and safety performance”. The 2007 safety performance once again underlined the need to further strengthen efforts to eliminate all accidents in the workplace. To that end, the Executive Committee has approved new safety targets for the period 2008-2010 (table 1). The targets for 2008 have been kept at the same level as 2007 to allow the sites to implement targeted action plans that address their specific needs. All business units have set their own safety targets within the overall Group safety targets.
Table 1
|
Frequency rate |
Severity rate | |
|
2008 |
4.0 |
0.15 |
|
2009 |
3.5 |
0.13 |
|
2010 |
3.0 |
0.11 |
As of January 2008, the reporting of recordable injuries and contractor safety is mandatory for all sites. These additional indicators will identify a broader range of unsafe situations that will provide valuable information to improving occupational safety. The company will include these additional indicators in the 2008 Annual Report.
Process safety
As part of the Group’s overall safety objectives, the company has also defined a process safety objective. Indeed, while Umicore has been paying a lot attention to improve its occupational safety performance, there was also a need to address process safety in a more systematic way. Many sites handle, use and store hazardous chemical substances that may present a hazard to the employees, neighboring people and the environment. The company needs to ensure that these risks are identified in a systematic way and that the necessary actions are taken to prevent, mitigate or contain those risks. All sites are required to develop and implement or review their existing process safety plans by the end of 2010. This includes key elements such as the identification of all areas presenting significant risks, analyzing potential situations, the implementation of both preventive and mitigating measures as well as setting up emergency response planning and training.