Friday Nov 29, 2024
Friday Nov 29, 2024
Thursday, 3 July 2014 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Holcim Lanka Occupational Health and Safety Manager Gayan Fernando stated, “This remarkable achievement accomplished by the Holcim Lanka safety team has been recognised and felicitated on a global scale with the win of two highly prestigious global safety awards. The achievement is all the more impressive considering that the RCW plant is engaged in operations that involve heavy machinery and engineering which qualifies as the largest industry in Galle.”
He also stated, “No small amount of dedication and commitment has gone into the realisation of this aspiration and a number of factors have contributed to bring to life this ideal. Holcim is reputed for a highly functional safety policy, often operating under the slogan; ‘safety is our license to lead’. This strong commitment to safety is evident across the group which places top priority on safety and the negation of harm to people, property and the environment.”
The Holcim Lanka safety team is highly concerned with the safety of the employees who engage in work at the RCW plant and constantly impose stringent safety regulations with the objective of ensuring their safety and avoiding any form of bodily harm. In this light, a number of trainings, awareness building workshops and seminars are held.
Awareness building is practiced to the point of making sure that no one enters the plant without a safety briefing which thoroughly advises them with regard to safety protocol and potential accidents that may occur at the plant.
Supervision is carried out with strong adherence by the safety team placed at the RCW plant that overlook vulnerabilities and strengthen any shortcomings of safety practices that may happen. Personal protective equipment is provided to everyone who enters the plant in a bid to protect them from even the slightest injury. Furthermore, medical checkups are provided routinely for employees to maintain optimum levels of health suited for the work they are engaged in.
Many strategies and techniques are in place and are consistently updated to maintain highest levels of safety assurance at the plants, these strategies are devised, tested and imposed by the safety team that readily adapts to dynamic working conditions and thrives to continuously achieve ideal safety standards. A risk based approach, working as a team to minimise and eliminate risk factors, investigation and assessment of the root cause of incidents and prevention of reoccurrence are among the strategies that have contributed greatly to this achievement.
Although a dedicated safety team exists at Holcim Lanka, the achievement is easily credited to cross functional internal support factors including departments of procurement, maintenance, production, pack house, quality assurance, logistics, administration, finance, IT and human resources. Each department contributes readily to the cause of safety and protecting internal as well as external stakeholders and the general public.
The Labour Department, Sri Lanka Navy, Port Authority, Fire Brigade, Police Department, Disaster Management and the Municipal Council are among the external contributors who have supported and helped achieve this vision.
The management of Holcim Lanka has been forthcoming in encouraging and following through with the importance of safety in daily operation and also instrumental in embedding the culture of safety within the organisation. Large investments have been made in maintaining equipment that is in optimum condition to minimise risk of injury. The total investment for safety is estimated to be nearly Rs. 6.5 million annually which totals to approximately Rs. 65 Million in the period of no incident.
Holcim Lanka is thankful to the large number of contributors who in their own way have made this achievement a possibility and includes employees, safety managers, plant managers and top management.
The safety team at Holcim Lanka is confident that this is the first in many milestones to come and is determined to continue in good stead to create a zero harm workplace within the organisation.
