Safety and health at work
At any executive committee meeting, our safety performance is always the first item on the agenda.
Protecting the health, safety and security of our employees and those who work on our behalf is a core value for Mondi. We believe in zero-harm workplaces, where all incidents are preventable.
During 2007, we replaced our six Golden Rules with a set of nine safety rules, including a new one especially created for employees and contractors working in our forestry operations. These Safety Rules address the key fatality risks in our operations:
The nine Safety Rules to live by
- Applying permits-to-work and controlling modifications
- Operating mobile plant and equipment
- Entering confined spaces
- Working at heights
- Making energy and machinery isolation
- Working safely on rotating and moving machinery
- Conducting lifting and materials handling
- Handling of chemicals and hazardous substances
- Working safely in the forests
Addressing forestry danger
We also pay particular attention to encouraging better safety practices and behaviour in our forestry operations in South Africa and Russia, where many of our serious injuries affecting our employees and contractors have taken place. One highly successful South African programme is called 'Phepha' which states: "all accidents are preventable. All accidents are preventable. Zero is our target." Phepha is based around four specially-produced videos, which have now been seen by all Mondi's forestry employees and contractors in the country.
Promoting good health
The approach to occupational health is one of risk assessment linked with focused medical surveillance. Exposure to noise in excess of the 85 decibel limit remains the most significant occupational health risk in the Mondi Group. 2007 was the first year in which we have not reported any incidents of occupational health diseases, in contrast with 11 cases in 2006.
As well as working to prevent occupational health diseases, we also need to work consistently to help protect our people against poor health conditions, particularly those that may be endemic in their communities.
Click here to read our Safety and Occupational Health policy that contains a set of consistent and absolute safety standards relating to our key risks.
Fatalities
For each fatality that occurs, an independent investigation is carried out to determine the core reason for the loss of life experienced. Intense measures are put into place to address the findings from the incidents and all lessons learnt are communicated throughout the Group.
Work-related injuries
Mondi measures its injury rate by use of the lost-time injury frequency rate (LTIFR). The LTIFR is a globally used measure of the number of injuries that result in more than one day off work per 200,000 hours worked. The LTIFR trend at Mondi has shown a continuous improvement over the years and tough targets have been set until 2010 to further significantly reduce this rate.
Last change: 26/03/2008