The company suggestion scheme (CSS) continues to play a
key role in the improvement of ALTANA’s safety culture.
More than 200 ideas concerned the subject of “Improvement
of safety at the workplace and of health protection.” The
suggestions that were implemented not only helped improve
ergonomic conditions and occupational safety but also
helped cut costs.
A Focus on Safety Communication
To continue to sharpen safety awareness in the long term,
the ALTANA Group primarily relies on targeted communication.
Last year, BYK in Germany signed a multiyear cooperation
agreement with the employer’s liability insurance asso-
ciation of raw materials and chemical industry (BG RCI) titled
“VISION ZERO. Zero Accidents – Healthy Work!” Accompanying
this, the safety campaign “Together. For Safety. VISION
ZERO” was launched in 2018. In this context, all manag-
ers attended a one-day workshop at which the seven VISION
ZERO success factors were explained. For example, the
success factor “Danger recognized – danger banned” was
elucidated in detail. Within the framework of the cooperation,
every year measures are jointly defined and implemented
in practice.
At the ACTEGA site in Grevenbroich, a special kind of
coaching on the topic of “Behavior-based safety culture” was
carried out with an external partner. The aim of this concept
is to bring about a lasting change in employees’ safety
awareness. In addition to other issues, the focus was on
the topic of “self-motivated and self-dependent action.” Given
the very positive response, we will carry out this type of
coaching or comparable kinds at other sites as well, in order
to continuously improve employees’ safety behavior there.
86 Safety and Health
to all its worldwide sites. In the newsletter, accidents with
significant frequency
and relevance, for example stumbling,
slipping, and falling are addressed and recommended actions
are provided. Furthermore, ALTANA’s
staff magazine
regularly discusses special accidents and strategies
for
avoiding them. Moreover, all sites have established efficient
processes for prompt analyses of accidents in which employees
and managers are involved.
Incidents in Detail
Based on the instructions for reporting on globally harmonized
process safety key figures in accordance with the International
Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and on
the definition provided by the German Chemical Industry Association
(VCI), we had a total of eleven significant incidents
in 2018 (previous year: 12). No employees were injured.
The eleven incidents were releases of chemicals. They did
not have negative effects on the environment. There were no
fires or explosions in the period under review.
Worldwide Safety Measures
At most sites, a safety week is held on an annual basis. All
employees at the respective sites are invited to engage
with the issue of safety within the framework of seminars and
presentations. For example, special safety trainings were
carried out at different sites of ELANTAS Europe, at ACTEGA
North America, and at ACTEGA do Brasil.
To avoid accidents with forklifts, some sites have
equipped their vehicles with so-called blue lights. The lights,
mounted on the front and back of the vehicles, cast a
bright blue spot on the ground, enabling pedestrians and
other drivers of vehicles to see the forklift from a distance,
especially in areas with poor visibility.