Singha Cement observes safety day 2013

The Italcementi Group considers safety to be part and parcel of its day to day operations, with safety being integrated as a group core business strategy. “‘Safety Day’ is an annual event that takes place in all the Italcementi terminals worldwide, in keeping with World Safety Day”, said Singha Cement Managing Director Colin Nelson.

This year Singha Cement held its annual ‘Safety Day’ celebrations on 8 June at the Grand Oriental Hotel in Colombo, with the theme being ‘Code of practice for safe driving’.

“The main objectives in conducting a ‘Safety Day’ programme are to gain the participative approach of the employees by involving them in safety activities, compliance with group requirements, as well as developing a professional safety management system in the workplace”, said Nelson. “It also serves as a reminder to employers, employees and others concerned of their responsibility in making the workplace safer and developing community awareness of the company’s activities”.

Over 90 Singha Cement staff members participated in the day’s programme which commenced with the lighting of the oil lamp and other traditional observances, followed by Nelson giving a brief address on the objective of the day, as well as the company’s achievements and performance during the year 2012.

Safety Manager, Nalinda Jayasinghe made a short presentation on road accidents in Sri Lanka for the last decade and went on to explain the ten master rules of the group for safe driving, namely, wear your seat belt at all times, never drive under influence of drugs or alcohol, have only permitted passengers on board, respect traffic regulations, never use mobile phones or two-way communication devices while driving, stay alert and prevent fatigue at all times, wear high visibility clothing and use head lights only where legally permissible, never exceed the permitted load, use the appropriate vehicle with the appropriate safety equipment, and respect other road users at all times.

Two professionals, namely Deputy Commissioner Labour Department / Specialist in Occupational Diseases Dr. Wajira Palipana and Fonterra Medical Marketing Manager Uditha Wijetunga, were also present and shared their knowledge on health and safety and personal development, with both sessions being enthusiastically received by the staff.  

“All in all it was a most productive day with the participants being satisfied with the knowledge gained. They left feeling enriched by the day’s programme and more committed to observing and improving the health and safety culture of their organisation”, said Nelson.