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PEOPLE: Developing Safety is a Long-term Process
The annual employee well-being survey shows good results regarding sustainability issues, confirming that the overall trend is positive. This encourages us to continue the good work and take further actions and co-operate even more closely with our staff on these matters.
POSITIVE CO-OPERATION
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2021 was still, to a high degree, characterised by Covid-19 restrictions. Our top priority was to maintain our production capability and to protect our employees’ health. As a result of this, educational sessions and inspections were postponed or conducted virtually. Despite the difficulties regarding travel, we managed to complete more than one hundred safety-related inspections and internal safety audits, as well as fourteen training sessions related to rescue operations in catastrophic accidents. Forcit leadership team members participated in and organised some of the internal safety audits, showing their commitment to safety issues. Overall, the coronavirus pandemic put a lot of constraint on our staff and operations. While implementation of remote work for large groups of employees was easier than assumed, it also caused new challenges, such as ergonomic aspects related to home offices, audio digital meetings practices, etc. A lot of effort was put into developing efficient communication and interaction tools and local restrictions helping the staff to stay safe.
FORCIT Group has had a strong period of growth during recent years. In 2021, three big construction projects were completed in a successful way without accidents. Those projects were realised in Trondheim (Norway), Rya (Sweden) and Kevitsa Mine (Finland), increasing our volumes and enabling further business growth. In the beginning of the year, the acquisition of the Portuguese software company O-Pitblast gave us a valuable possibility to develop our safety routines and instructions in a totally different work environment and culture.
* LTIF, Lost time injuries, includes all on-the-job injuries that require a person to stay away from work more than 24 hours or which result in death or permanent disability. LTIF number shows how many of lost time injuries occur in a workplace per 1 million hours worked.
** TRIF, Total recordable injuries, is a measure that encompasses all fatalities, lost time injury, cases of substitute work due to injury and medical treatment cases by medical professionals. TRIF does not include any first aid injuries. TRIF number shows how many injuries occur in a workplace per 1 million hours worked.
FORCIT GROUP: PEOPLE IN FIGURES 2021
(2020 in parentheses)
521
(468)
Total amount of employees 18% / 82% (18% / 82%)
Age structure:
< 25 4% (3%) 25-34 26% (24%) 35-44 27% (29%) 45-54 28% (30%) > 55 15% (14%) LTIF* 7 (1.3)
Sick leave 2.9 % (3.2%)
Evaluation for occupational safety by employees 8.8/10 (8.7/10) ForSafe reports 784 (626) First actions in 2.5 (6) days
WE NEED TO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK RELATED TO SAFETY
The overall activity regarding safety observations was high (increased by 25% since 2020), but the result in terms of incidents or accidents was not satisfactory. Six accidents resulting in sick leave (LTIF) were reported in 2021.
When it comes to leading indicators, we focus on carrying out the first corrective actions to reported safety deviations (ForSafe reports) within 14 days. This encourages people to report observations or near misses when they see that things are progressing.
The lessons learnt meetings were held after every accident, but without being able to identify a common root cause. Focusing on work safety and accident prevention continues by developing work risk assessments on a daily basis. By encouraging staff to make proactive safety observations as a natural part of their daily work and by discussing attitudes and behaviours related to safety, we aim to further strengthen our safety culture.
Forcit’s leadership team members were involved in internal safety audits.
SAFETY STOP CAMPAIGN
As we saw a rising number of accidents resulting in injuries and sick leaves, especially in Finland, we carried out a Safety Stop campaign in FORCIT Explosives business unit. This included training sessions as well as practical guiding of employees on how to make proactive risk observations and share lessons learnt. We have also focused on the further development of our work risk assessment routines, which are scheduled for responsible persons. The sustainability function has also an important role in spreading information and good practices when it comes to safety. All near misses have been investigated in detail and corrective actions have been carried out.
We have challenged ourselves and have set an even more ambitious safety target for 2022. Our Safety Roadmap, which consists of a systematic approach on the overall safety topics, will guide us when taking decisions on preventive technical investments and help us to focus on the most relevant actions.
In 2021, the number of overall sick leaves was even lower than the previous year, which reflects the good working conditions, work well-being and preventive health care, as well as wise policies during the pandemic.
Risk assesment, personal protective equipment and safety equipment form the basis of safe work.
Th i n k before you act!SAFETY STOP
Rescue training at the Hanko factory site in September 2021.
CASE EXAMPLE: CENTRALISED BLASTING IN KEMI MINE
Forcit co-operates with a supplier of electronic detonators and the Kemi mine to implement a Centralised Blasting System (CBS) to ensure safer and more economical blasting. The system enables controlled implementation of blasts using the Wi-Fi network of the mine.
Operators do not need to be present in the mine tunnel during the blasting, as each separate blast is fired from a centralised blasting location in a controlled manner.
Centralised blasting system enables the ignition of blast rounds at the same explosion time frame regardless of the type of detonators used in the charging. Only one electronic detonator is needed in each blasting round. The system also enables two-way communication with all blast rounds up to the moment they are blasted, increasing quality and safety. It is possible to implement the whole procedure with just a push of a button if all blast rounds are verified and charged to be ready for blasting. The actual firing of the blast can be done either manually or automatically blast-by-blast at pre-agreed intervals. In addition, the CBS system informs if there is a faulty detonator in a round while performing the test phase after charging. By doing this, the risk of undetonated detonators or explosives in blasted rock piles is minimised. The system also programmes and initiates every detonator connected to the firing line, even if for some reason a single detonator has not been programmed. In case of a major fault in a blast, the system will not give permission to fire. Overall, with the centralised blasting system the risks related to blasting are reduced. In 2021, more than 2,000 remote blasts were conducted successfully. Several new investments have been made in 2021, further strengthening the security of storage facilities. Most of these relate to our operations in Sweden and comprise for example new types of camera and surveillance systems .
One of Forcit’s latest investment and construction projects, Rya service station in Sweden.
