Top 5 companies championing safety initiatives in the aluminium industry

Safety comes first before anything else.

Accidents anywhere or in any industry are not good and can be avoided or lowered with proper measurements. Safety and production are inextricably linked to any industry's growth or success. And the aluminium industry is not an exception either! Many companies like Alba, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Vedanta, Amag, etc., have always ensured that their employees or workers are guarded with the best safety measures.

To control the risk to people posed by various industry-related activities, it is required to identify all possible hazards methodically, to have excellent practice standards, committed management, and methods for organised follow-up. Safety is not only limited to accidents but also to other health measures like carrying out awareness campaigns on other health-related issues, awakening the workers and providing them with the needed medications or guidance.

According to the International Aluminium Institute, 99% of its members have employee exposure assessment and medical monitoring plans, as described in IAI-ICMM published recommendations. Furthermore, more than 95% of operational sites have EHS management systems, with 94% achieving ISO 14000 certification and 46% achieving OHSAS 18000 certification. Below is a list of companies who have championed safety initiatives in the aluminium industry and the names are:

EGA

Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE's biggest industrial firm outside of oil and gas, announced that it will introduce the pioneering behavioural safety programme SafeStart to the area as part of the company's quest to zero damage. EGA's safety performance is already much superior to worldwide industry standards. EGA is now trying to remove the danger of significant injury in its operations by the end of this decade, an ambitious target that no industrial business has ever accomplished. EGA is committed to consistently developing all four safety factors: technical solutions such as intrinsically safe equipment, organisational safety management systems, genuine safety leadership, and human behaviour. SafeStart tackles the human component of safety, recognising that hurrying, impatience, exhaustion, or complacency contribute to virtually all workplace and outside incidents. These mental states result in four major errors: eyes off task, mind off task, moving into or being in the line of fire, and balance, traction, or grip issues. 

Alba

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the world's largest aluminium smelter outside of China, has always been a leader in ensuring the safety of its workers. Recently they launched the 'Stop, Think, & Act' initiative as a part of its summer safety and health campaigns, in which the CEO emphasized Alba's Safety Journey and continuing initiatives to improve security throughout the hard summer months (acting responsibly, reporting harmful actions and situations). Not only this, the company has also achieved several milestones and awards related to safety –

• In 2022 the company emerged as the first smelter in the region to achieve a historic milestone of 30 Million Safe Working Hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI).
• Alba was awarded the Gulf Aluminium Council (G.A.C.) 's Health & Safety Award 2022 at the Gulf Aluminium Dinner in 2022
• The company also bagged the prestigious International Safety Award – Merit from the British Safety Council for its consistent commitment to keeping the workforce safe and healthy during 2021.

These clearly reflect Alba's commitments and efforts towards strong safety culture and value. According to Ali Al Baqali, Alba's Chief Executive Officer, there is no better policy than ensuring the safety of employees. The aim should be to achieve more than these milestone, hit higher benchmarks, and accomplish a zero-accident work environment.

BALCO

Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), a division of Vedanta Aluminium and one of India's largest aluminium producers has distributed a cutting-edge technology known as the T-Pulse Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) Monitoring System, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor workplace behaviour and warns against unprecedented on-site accidents. It is a 360° comprehensive solution that monitors and interferes with all active protocols within the facility, such as traffic interference and vehicle safety, personal protective equipment use, job safety/hazard communication, work at height, dropped objects, confined space, and lifting and hoisting. The T-Pulse system will record all accessible data in real time, providing employees with logical inference for enhanced safety and working conditions. The system can assess danger in everyday operations through a well-integrated network of cameras, AI sensors, edge devices, and hovering drones.

Vedanta Aluminium

Vedanta Aluminium, India's biggest aluminium manufacturer, has carried out many safety training programmes like –

• Heat stroke awareness programme – This was conducted throughout numerous locations in Jharsuguda district, Odisha, reaching more than 28 villages and educating the community members about the severity of heat strokes and the precautions they should take to protect themselves. The week-long programme effectively reached out to over 6500 individuals throughout the area using a mix of live workshops, educational brochures, and ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) powder distribution.
• Safety training program - Vedanta Aluminium presented an impacting industrial safety training event at its Jharsuguda facilities in partnership with the Directorate of Factories and Boilers, Government of Odisha. The workshop was part of a series of training efforts across several sectors hosted by the Department of Labour and ESI, Government of Odisha, to increase industry experts' safety awareness. The training course included various issues, including process safety, behaviour-based safety, visible felt leadership, fire and explosive safety, and risk-based thinking.
• Jal Sewa Shibir – This was done to assist residents and visitors in Jharsuguda to survive the summer heat by distributing free drinking water, ORS, lemon water, and buttermilk to around 8000 people daily. In addition, the business has deployed water tankers to distribute drinking water to communities in 17 places throughout 11 wards of Jharsuguda that are experiencing extreme water shortages, assisting almost 25,000 people with daily access to safe drinking water.

Vedanta Aluminium is dedicated to making its workplace and society a safer place to work and live by enhancing its Safety Management System with cutting-edge technology, strong procedures, and behaviour-based safety.

Qatalum

Safety has been and continues to be at the heart of the company's working philosophy, and major efforts are made to build a strong safety culture. These initiatives are aimed towards the company's ultimate objective of having no safety related accidents. Qatalum's primary emphasis throughout the summer months was on safe operations. To tackle the summer challenge, the company increased its heat stress reduction programmes and achieved zero heat stress instances throughout the year. The success of Qatalum in this area may be ascribed to increasing involvement within operating regions, widespread implementation of lessons learned, and expanding coaching efforts from specialised HSE personnel. A solid management system framework and a solid safety governance structure support the Company's Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) policies, assuring compliance with relevant regulatory requirements and international standards.

Measuring health and safety performance at the facility, business, and sector levels is critical for risk management. The long-term success of companies depends on secure and productive labour forces. Thus reducing potential hazards to their health is crucial.