Order and a systematic approach
Borregaard LignoTech:
Borregaard LignoTech is the leading global supplier of lignin-based binding and dispersing agents. The wood-based agents are an environmentally sound alternative to oil-based products.
Borregaard LignoTech has a total of around 450 employees at eight production facilities in Norway, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Spain, the USA, South Africa, Germany and the UK. |
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The safety programme at Borregaard LignoTech has been carried out in several stages, beginning with a focus on housekeeping and a systematic approach in the working environment.
"We started out by conducting second-party audits, in which representatives from other parts of the LignoTech system assessed the various units and proposed improvements. We also encouraged each unit to use recognised local EHS consultants to carry out third-party audits. The Board of Directors of each factory conducts inspection rounds at the plants before their meetings, and each unit must draw up annual plans for EHS activities, which are followed up by the central administration," explains the Manufacturing Director.
Recording near-miss incidents
Secondly, it has been important to observe and understand the way people work, and to look at near-miss incidents.
"In 2004 we began the process of paying more attention to and increasing our reporting of near-miss accidents. This entailed getting employees to understand the necessity of reporting incidents that could have resulted in an accident. In addition, safety inspections were carried out by the management and a safety committee comprising managers, EHS coordinators and safety delegates elected from among the employees. The purposes of the safety inspections was to observe and uncover unsafe actions or working conditions," says George Marshall.
The main objective of stepping up efforts to record near-misses was to pro-actively identify the causes of potential accidents.
"One of the things we learned was that working conditions had been improved to such an extent that most accidents were due to incorrect behaviour. In other words, in order to reduce the injury frequency rate we had to focus on changing the organisational culture and employee behaviour," Marshall points out.
Changing behaviour
With this important lesson in mind, Borregaard LignoTech could really get to work on changing on-the-job attitudes and behaviour. Among other things, this meant improving safety standards and involving the employees more actively in dialogues concerning safety issues. "96 % of all accidents are caused by human error. That is precisely why behavioural change plays such a key role in our safety work," says Marshall.
Commitment
The main obstacle to the success of the safety programme is competition from other high priority activities. Borregaard LignoTech is now continuing to pursue its focus on safety.
"'We must constantly remind one another of our goals and how important it is to reach them within the defined time frame. We must make sure that our employees understand the consequences of their own actions, and know what they can do to avoid dangerous situations. The entire project depends on everyone having a sense of personal responsibility for, and commitment to, safety," concludes George Marshall.
Text:
Tone Horvei Bredal, Communication Manager at Borregaard
Endre Steinbru, Communications Officer at Borregaard