In line with the current industry commitments and trends, Ternium is joining the World Steel Association’s initiative to broaden its perspective at this annual event.
This year, in 2023, Steel Safety Day has had a makeover: now, as worldsteel Safety and Health Day, its focus has expanded to encompass a broader vision of safety and health that goes beyond the workplace to promote these aspects in the steel industry as a whole.
The name change accompanies efforts to emphasize the importance of health alongside safety, in line with the International Labor Organisation's World Day for Safety and Health at Work. However, the word “Work” has been excluded in the worldsteel restructuring strategy as a way of transmitting the message that looking after people’s safety extends well beyond our jobs and applies equally, and constantly, to those people living in the communities where the industry operates.
“This special worldsteel day is completely aligned with our corporate vision, which states that, ‘We are committed to preserving the safety and health of all those working at Ternium and the communities where we operate’. It invites us to reflect more generally about the importance not only of preventing accidents, but also of taking actions to care for people’s health,” commented Marina Chiesa, EHS Vice President.
"At Ternium, prevention is very important for health and safety, and we reinforce this by offering training courses for specific areas, focusing on work risks, the need for periodic preventive medical examinations tailored to specific job profiles, and psychosocial risk assessments, which are also extremely relevant. These action plans strengthen what is already a robust occupational health and safety system,” explained Dr. Gabriela Montealegre, Occupational Hygiene Manager at the Clínica Nova Hospital.
Previously, Steel Safety Day focused on the five leading causes of industry fatalities, to the exclusion of other causes of death and serious but not fatal injuries. Another point is that it did not always consider the priorities of member companies and individual sites, a key reason for the change in direction. Looking to the future, the idea is not to center on one single theme per year, but for worldsteel members to hold audits or other activities and share promotional materials through the association's many channels. This idea is for this approach to ensure that health and safety is integrated into all aspects of steel production.
On April 28 each year, worldsteel will release a public version of the previous year's Health & Safety metrics, showcasing the safety areas of its members on its official site, extranet and other social media channels.