Lafarge Mahaweli celebrates safety month

Wednesday, 1 October 2014 02:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Lafarge Mahaweli Cement concluded their annual Health & Safety month recently, with a number of activities held at their factory premises located within the Colombo port. The theme of this year’s safety month, which was in line with Lafarge’s global best practices on secure operations was ‘My actions, My impact: Our Progress’ with special emphasis on zero accidents and a firm commitment towards engaging and caring for one another.

The exit of the vehicle park did not allow a proper view of the pedestrians. Two side mirrors were fixed on both sides allowing the drivers to see both sides clearly. During the month several training programs were carried out for employees, contractors, drivers and other stakeholders with external speakers within the industry sharing insights into road safety, work at height, ergonomics etc. to refresh and emphasise the safety message. The special activity, which was lauded by all their stakeholders, was the photo story competition under the 2014 theme. The much looked forward to annual event was participated by all 150 direct and indirect employees this year. Every employee was given a chance to illustrate their ideas on Health & Safety within the theme guidelines and the best creations received special awards.

Lafarge Sri Lanka Head of Health & Safety Athula Karunanayake, commenting on this year’s theme said: “The way we manage risks, our behaviours at work and at home are all important factors to take into consideration. It is only natural that the 2014 Health & Safety Month is focused on personal ownership. Each one of us has a role to play through our individual actions, and help improve Health & Safety within the entire Group. All the activities we undertook were along these lines and the photo story competition we launched is a special way of using the visual medium to get the point across.” The company believes that the practice of core Health & Safety values at all levels of their business would create a safe and healthy working environment for their employees, customers, contractors and service providers; allowing them to engage in their operations in a secure manner. Lafarge Sri Lanka Head of Human Resources Communications & CSR Tissa Nanayakkara said that the running of their factory for 1,000 days, with no lost time due to injury (LTI), is testimony to their strict adherence to the policy. Lafarge Group’s vision is to be the top amongst the world’s more secure companies in terms of zero incidents and occupational health illnesses; and in order to do that the company has developed a structured approach. Karunanayake said, “The Group’s system titled ‘Health & Safety Management System’ (HSMS) uses a Risk Based Approach, which will determine the H&S improvement plan according to risks and priorities. With all these initiatives by Lafarge Sri Lanka, our next mission is to complete 3,000 days with zero LTI,” which he considers an easily achievable task for the local team.