Valmet launches five new minimum safety standards

Building safety excellence

Valmet is committed to taking safety forward in its operations and in the industries it serves. Its ultimate goal is zero harm.

Valmet has in place minimum safety standards for high risk activities to ensure a common safety platform across all its operations. The company now extends its minimum safety standards to cover five additional critical activities – safeguarding of machines, hazardous manual handling, driving safety and emergency action planning.

"For Valmet, improving safety is a corporation wide strategic initiative and part of our commitment to enhance process excellence. Further development of our minimum safety standards is a key activity in this agenda for 2014," says Kari Saarinen, SVP Strategy and Operational Development, Valmet Corporation.

Minimum safety standards for high-risk activities

At Valmet, compliance with applicable local laws and regulations is the foundation for all operations. The minimum safety standards are an additional tool to provide increased emphasis on high risk activities. The minimum safety standards now cover the following procedures:

• safeguarding of machines
• hazardous manual handling
• driving safety
• emergency action planning
• hot work lock-out / tag-out
• working at height
• lifting
• entering or working in confined spaces
• operating tools and equipment
• working with hazardous substances
• usage of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• maintaining good order

“Since the introduction of the initial standards in 2012, the number of severe accidents resulting in absence from work has decreased by 35%. By introducing the new standards, Valmet aims at securing additional critical controls for a safety at work,” says Victoria Larsson, Manager for Health, Safety and Environment.

As an example of implementing the maintaining good order standard, best practices such as 5S have spread between operations and today this tool is practiced in most Valmet workshops. Slips, trips and falls related to poor housekeeping have decreased in frequency in general.

Workshop in Karlstad, Sweden

Another visible result of the minimum standards is that safety glasses are now standard PPE in all workshops for employees, contractors and visitors. The impact is again seen in a decrease in eye injuries globally.

All Valmet units are responsible for implementing legal requirements and the company’s minimum safety standards in their procedures and for ensuring local compliance. The minimum safety standards are assured as part of Valmet’s global auditing processes.

Responsible operations regarding health, safety and environment (HSE) is one of Valmet’s sustainability focus areas. Read more at www.valmet.com/sustainability