Work without Danger

On April 28, more than 100 countries celebrated World Safety Day. The holiday was officially established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2003. It is also called World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

The purpose of the holiday is to attract public attention to the culture of labor protection and reduce injuries among employees. The idea of it was firstly announced by American and Canadian workers to the memory of those who got hurt at work.

The ILO estimates that 6,300 people die every day in the world due to accidents and occupational diseases. This is almost 2,500,000 people a year.

Moreover, employees get hurt from 270,000,000 accidents at work every year which lead to temporary disability. As a result of non-compliance with occupational safety standards global economy suffers a loss of 4% of gross domestic product.

The editorial board of UMZ-Inform congratulates Production Safety Director Office's team on professional holiday and publishes an interview with Production Safety Director, Yevgenyi Chumin.

– Yevgenyi Alexandrovich, how is Labor Safety Day celebrated at our plant?

– World Safety Day is celebrated by UMP JSC since it was established in 2003. This is a very important holiday, as occupational safety and environmental protection is the first priority of NAC Kazatomprom JSC and our company. This day is another reason to pay attention to the activities that we regularly implement to improve the culture of occupational safety.

A review competition is held among employees with a focus on prevention occupational injuries and diseases in UMP JSC and in honor of the World Safety Day every year from March 15 to April 15. It evaluates a number of indicators aimed at preventing injuries, harm to health and creating safe working conditions. There are also annual reviews and competitions of professional skills among workers. Based on their results, outstanding employees are awarded the title Best in the Profession at UMP JSC.

– What recent achievements in occupational safety would you highlight?

– If we talk about 2019, we have achieved all our goals. Among the main ones are: conducting cascading communications with commitments under Vision Zero Program on all levels of management, implementing system for blocking equipment and hazardous energy sources, LOTO System, procedures for identifying and eliminating dangerous actions, dangerous conditions and potentially dangerous situations, as well as conducting and registering behavioral safety audits on all levels.

A Training Center has also been put into operation at the plant and a Comprehensive Plan for improving working conditions, occupational safety and sanitary measures has been developed and approved by the Trade Union Committee. Within its framework, 136 measures were implemented to improve working conditions, prevent accidents and reduce the likelihood of injuries.

– What are the main safety goals for 2020?

– NAC Kazatomprom JSC management has identified the following key tasks for the current year: further development of Leadership principles, implementation of practice for stopping unsafe work by employees and increasing requirements for contractors on occupational safety issues. Further implementation of Roadmap of the Action Plan in environmental and social spheres of NAC Kazatomprom JSC (ESAP) in accordance with the updated Plan for 2020 is also very important. A lot of attention will be paid to enhancement of road safety.

– What would you like to wish plant employees at this difficult time?

– In connection with the observance of World Safety Day, once again we would like to draw the attention of managers and every employee to the need of development culture of occupational safety. Let's maintain and improve the results that we have achieved.