PEOPLE: GOOD FLOW AROUND SAFETY

Focus On Risks

Safety has been our focus for a long time. Our latest actions have concentrated on psychological aspects, pointing out the importance of human behaviour and recognising risks. At the beginning of 2022, we developed the concept of Day with Operator (DWO) rounds, where we followed one employee or a group of employees for a day. We discussed risks, made observations, and came up with new ideas together. At the end of the day, we summarised the observations and the employees evaluated and wrote down the risks related to their work. The learnings were shared in the company’s internal channels. A total of 25 DWO rounds were conducted.

TRAININGS IN FULL ACTION AFTER COVID-19

Safety development and deeper understanding needs different professionalities, backgrounds and experiences. Co-operation has led to sharing information of accidents or good practices between organisations, as well as to deeper co-operation through training. FORCIT supervisors were trained by the Competence Centre for Energetic Materials (KCEM) in Stockholm to understand how people react in accident situations, how accidents de- velop and what the responsibilities of supervisors are when talking about explosives manufacturing. FORCIT employees participated in Fex, Allex and other courses, and in addition we organised a tour at our dynamite factory for the supervisors of other explosives companies.

Adapting To The Changing Situation

Physical and cyber security procedure was developed in our operations, as the overall situation in Europe was rapidly changing. The awareness of the overall threat level has been analysed in close co-operation with authorities. The preparedness to protect facilities, employees and overall safety is a top priority for us. We never place all of our trust on a single security procedure or technology, and the resources and level of techniques were increased based on a general risk analysis.

* 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.

FORCIT GROUP: PEOPLE IN FIGURES 2022

** 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.

Operational Safety Development

The majority of safety development is done by our own employees, by completing reports on safety observations, deviations, near-misses or accidents. This ForSafe reporting system has been adopted well in each business unit and country, and employees have been very active in safety observation and increased their share of the total number of reports.

During 2022, three accidents occurred which led to short sick leaves. There were no fatal or serious incidents. All our accidents and many near misses were related to falling or sliding, and thus we decided to arrange a campaign where we asked employees to report work situations or places where there are obvious risks of falling, slipping, dropping or stumbling. The campaign was positive in two ways: firstly, it revealed several risks which were not recognised earlier, and secondly, it opened our eyes to make observations of our surroundings.

Routines In Controlling Safety

Normal inspection routines were conducted in each operation. Technical failures or shortcomings were handled fast. Authorities started to do live inspections again following the COVID-19 lockdown, and thus 2022 was active in many fields of safety. The total sum of internal and external inspections in our company was more than 200.

The largest authority exercise was held in the Vihtavuori factory area, where several stakeholders were organised to participate in a scenario that involved a bulk truck fire. The training revealed both the high level of systematic approach and knowledge around explosives and hazardous situations, and some details to develop further.

CASE EXAMPLE: RACKS FOR SAFE TRUCK ICE AND SNOW REMOVAL

Truck drivers are responsible for safety of the vehicles they are driving and for minimising risk for others in road traffic. Prior to transportation, drivers have to ensure there is not anything external to flow or drop down from the cabin, e.g., snow or ice. During wintertime, drivers must check the truck cabin and remove ice and snow before driving to minimise risks for other traffic.

The rack in the picture is used to clean the cabins of vans and trucks in the explosive transportation fleet. It was the first model in use, and similar solutions will be added to other stations.

CASE EXAMPLE: PREPARING FOR NORDIC WINTER

Forcit Norway’s operators and drivers must put snow chains on their vehicles before 1 November each year. This yearly and traditional practice reveals the suitability and condition of the chains. At the same time, it is wise to check the friction and spikes of winter shoes as well.

DID YOU KNOW?

FORCIT Consulting has arranged almost 40 courses on safe transporting of dangerous goods for licensing ADR drivers. In addition, many other tailored training sessions have been held for large-scale Finnish actors, such as the Police University College and companies in pulp and paper industry.

CASE EXAMPLE: FORCIT DRIVING ACADEMY

In 2022, Winter Driving Training was organised for employees who drive a significant distance to work in their own cars. In addition, we started a Proactive Driving Course series for drivers of the heavy vehicle fleet. In the training, MEMU charging vehicles and EX III trucks were driven both empty and loaded. These same vehicles are used to transport explosives or semi-manufactured explosives.

The Proactive Driving Course consists of theory and practical exercises on the track. In addition to safety, the theoretical part also discusses practical measures of economical and ecological driving, which ultimately lead to smoother traffic. Drivers who have been involved in accidents also receive additional assuring training. The Driving Academy program will continue in 2023.

These training sessions, which around 20 employees have completed so far, have been organised by FORCIT Consulting’s traffic experts.