100-percent safe

Safety at work is a dynamic pro­cess. As a company and employ­ee, it is repeatedly required to apply the right preventive mea­sures. A work culture in which behavior and attention are steeped in the aspect of safety is an important step toward pre­venting accidents. Gustavo Larsen, Global Safety Director within Nutrition, took office at early 2019 with the goal of devel­oping and sustainably estab­lish­ing such a culture of safety at all Nutrition locations. Gustavo and his team began by analyzing the status quo in the different locations. Eighty per­cent of all accidents at Nutrition could be attributed to a few existing risks at all locations. Among the greatest risk factors at the locations in general are working at heights, vehicle traffic, log-out tag-out processes, which regulates zero energy state during interventions on ma­chinery and equip­ment, fire prevention and the handling of chemical substances. Based on these findings, a plan of action was developed to prevent acci­dents from occurring in the first place. A process of systematic and wide sharing of accidents (explanation, causes and corre­sponding lessons learned to prevent them) was also imple­mented within all Nutrition, to boost experience sharing and serve a collab­orative learning process. Ten Golden Rules for driving preventive safety were therefore defined to be followed by all employees. In the first year after the introduction of these new processes, accidents at work at Nutrition were already reduced by more than half.

In workshops, all LATAM region employees were taught the “Ten Golden Rules” and went through safe work processes.

A good example of the successful implementation of the new ap­ nproach and a lived safety cul­ture is the production site of the Business Unit Aqua in Costa Rica. At the beginning of 2019, there were still some work acci­dents that were mainly due to human behavior. Since a work­shop on occupational safety was conducted in February 2020, the site has been accident-free. A success that was only possible through the personal commit­ment of all employees. The topic of safety is now also part of the monthly business review. The team is very proud to show and share its progress. “Managers and employees from all areas are constantly working on further improvements and are sharing them with other plants,” says site manager Jerry Rodriguez. Thanks to the rapid progress, the plant in Costa Rica is now a reference and regularly exchanges best prac­tices and safety initiatives with other Symrise Nutrition facilities in the LATAM region.