A safe and healthy place to work
DSM has set itself the target of reducing the Frequency Index of recordable injuries (number of fatalities, Lost Workday Cases or Restricted Workday Cases and Medical Treatment Cases per 100 DSM employees and contractors in one year) by 50% or more (compared to 2010) by the year 2020.
In 2010 this Frequency Index was 0.57; the target for 2020 is ≤ 0.25. In 2011 the index was 0.53. The Frequency Index of Lost Workday Cases involving DSM employees was 0.15 (2010: 0.15).
DSM’s performance in this area has fluctuated around this level since mid 2009. It has proved to be difficult to improve it to a next level. Over half of the accidents in 2011 related to ‘slips, trips and falls’, ‘sprains and strains’ or the work posture in which the job was executed. For such cases improvements must come from training, increased awareness, and behavioral programs as well as improving ergonomics in work situations. Such programs take some time to deliver success.
DSM wants to eliminate fatalities altogether and has launched specific initiatives (on top of the well-established general safety programs) to reach this ambition, including the strengthening of the implementation of a set of Life Saving Rules in 2011.
DSM’s Life Saving Rules focus on certain known high-risk activities (for example entry into confined spaces, or driving) where the company has experienced fatal accidents in the past. Many of the rules already existed; strengthening their implementation as ‘Life Saving Rules’ provided an excellent opportunity for highlighting the importance of the rules, and discussing what they mean in the daily working environment and how they should be applied. Via company-wide briefing sessions in June and workshops in the second half of the year all DSM employees and all contractors working on DSM sites were involved in the roll-out of and discussions on these Life Saving Rules.
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