Raised safety ambitions

Vision of zero workplace accidents

SCA has a vision of zero workplace accidents at all of its units. The target for 2014–2020 is that the accident frequency rate, meaning the number of accidents per million hours worked, will decrease by 50%.

Regrettably, one employee was fatally injured during the year in Mannheim, Germany. The fatal accident emphasizes how important it is that health and safety efforts must always be prioritized and developed.

Creating a safety culture

Policies, management systems, follow-up and control are examples of tools that facilitate initiatives for improving health and increasing safety. However, perhaps the most important step will be to create a culture that always places health and safety first. Our annual Global Safety Week is an example of an activity designed to promote such a culture.

SCA’s control system also includes minimizing risk by providing training for managers, employees and partners. Each SCA plant has procedures in place to increase workplace safety. The international OHSAS standard also serves as a tool to help SCA promote a systematic approach and continuous improvement of the work environment.

Looking after each other at work

In September, more than 30,000 employees took part in SCA’s second Global Safety Week. The theme was “Friends at work – together we are safer”.

Various activities took place around the world. For example, the emergency services paid a visit, employees listened to inspiring lectures and took part in security drills that were as instructive as they were exciting. The week also included some unexpected elements, such as parkour with the theme slip-trip-fall. Employees were encouraged to share stories about friendship and safety, both at work and outside the workplace.

It is vital that everyone is aware of the risks, takes responsibility and stands up for each other in order to strengthen safety and satisfaction at SCA workplaces. Each individual is obliged to set an example and our managers and leaders have, of course, a particular responsibility. SCA’s Executive Management Team and many other managers took part in the activities to offer employees a chance to discuss safety and, not least, to indicate that safety will always be a top priority at SCA.

Stronger safety culture with ZERO

ZERO is a program launched to develop a safety culture within SCA’s forest products operations. Despite targeted initiatives and a systematic approach to health and safety, too many accidents are still taking place.

The situation must be reversed and ZERO will help us to achieve this. The first milestone is to halve the number of workplace accidents by 2018, compared with 2014. We must change our behavior if we are to reach the first milestone and subsequently reach our ultimate objective that no one should be injured at work. It means that each of us must put health and safety first and show this through our actions every day. Key success factors are commitment from management, concrete and challenging targets, as well as sustained commitment from the employees.

Work on ZERO began with a situational assessment. Based on the analysis, we then drew up action plans to develop our safety culture and began activities. In addition, we developed a joint toolkit with important routines, our own policy for behavior-based safety and a leadership development program.

“We have now run the program for one year and can see a positive impact. Figures for this year show a reduction of 26% in the number of accidents resulting in absence and a 29% reduction in the accident frequency rate. There has been a strong commitment to reach our target, a safe and secure workplace,” says Katarina Kolar, Program Manager for ZERO.

The Zero safety program was successfully launched and the accident frequency rate was reduced by a full 29%.