Tata Steel Corporate Sustainability Report 2005-06

HEALTH & SAFETY AT TATA STEEL
Health & safety monitoring and communication (LA5)
The Factory Act 1948 and the Bihar Factory Rules 1950 guidelines, Mines Acts/Rules and Explosive Acts/Rules form the basis for recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases in the organization. Any occupational accident is reported immediately to the safety control room manned round the clock by telephone. Any injury is reported to the nearest first-aid-station. There are two first aid stations inside the Works, which are equipped with a well-maintained ambulance and trained staff, to take care of any emergency. Information pertaining to department, location, nature, time of accident, person involved and damage occurred is sent to the Safety Department in the prescribed format. This reporting also includes minor incidents, dangerous occurrences and near miss cases. Reportable accidents (where the injured did not return to work for 48 hours) are reported to the Inspector of Factories.

In case of any fatal accident, the information is sent in writing to the Chairman, General Safety Committee, Inspector of Factories and local government officials on the day of the incident. The work is stopped till it is cleared by the Inspector of Factories after site verification. Within 48 hours of the accident, an enquiry committee is constituted to investigate the root cause/s of the accident. The recommendation’s are discussed in the General Safety Committee and are circulated to all Departmental Heads/Chiefs to take necessary preventive actions to prevent a recurrence.

Occupational Health and Safety management at Tata Steel is also systematized with the OHSAS-18001 standards to which it has already been certified.

An on-line system, called Safety Excellence Management System (SEMS), is in place to log and set target dates for removing the unsafe condition observed on site. Observations can be assigned three priority values on a three-point scale based on severity of consequence of an existing unsafe situation and probability of occurrence of an accident. A Safety Officer logs his observation at a particular section in a department, which results in an e-mail to the unit leader of the section and the head of the section notifying them of the observation. The unit leader after corrective action triggers a “Closed by Department”, e-mail to the Safety Officer who verifies the status and closes it or rejects the same. In the latter case, the above cycle is followed again.

Tata Steel initiated a safety excellence journey under the guidance of DuPont resources a world-class leader in safety. The safety programmes, which began at Steel Works, have been rolled out across all locations including Mines. These initiatives have led to a perceptible change in behaviour of employees including that of contractors, and outside the place of work. Numerous initiatives, which include identification of safety standards, life saving rules, safety condition as an employment, compulsory site visits and observations on an on-line system, systematic risk assessment of all accidents and incidents will help the company to change the attitude of all those working in and on behalf of the company. The company aspires to become world-class in safety.

Joint Health & Safety Committee involving management and worker representatives (LA6)
The senior management constitutes the Apex Safety Council in which the Managing Director of the Company is the Chairman and Members are Management & Workers Union representatives. The Apex Safety Council is supported by nine Apex Safety Sub-Committees on Training, Safety Standards, Incident Investigation, Observation, Occupational Health, Isolation Policy & Procedures, Communication, Contractor Safety Management and Road & Rail Safety. Each Sub-Committees has representation from the Workers Union as well as management.