A changing Hydro

Team co-ordinator Michael Wilson and his colleagues at
Kurri Kurri are benefiting from improved safety performance
and the Safety Maintenance Center.
T
he aluminium smelter in Kurri
Kurri, Australia, distributed close
to 13,000 pieces of safety equip-
ment to employees last year – a lot to
keep track of. That’s the job of the Safety
Maintenance Center.
“When we issue a piece of safety equip-
ment, we know it is according to Australian
and site safety standards. It has not been
lying around in the back of a car the last six
months, with paint all over it,” says site safety
officer Jim York.
Together with assistant safety officers
Gregory Cook and Simon Lane he inspected
and issued close to 13,000 pieces of safety
gear in 2006. This includes 3,764 Racal hel-
mets, 1,791 harnesses and 1,789 lanyards.
The process and results of the system are
impressive, making the Safety Maintenance
Center a significant contributor to a record low
total recordable injury statistic of 2.1 in 2006.
In addition, Hydro saves big money through
loss prevention.
It wasn’t always that way. Ten years ago,
each worker had individual safety gear, and
50 Racal helmets, each priced at around
$800, were lost every year. Other equipment
was misplaced and lost, and – very import-
ant – safety equipment was not inspected
regularly.
Last year, though, only one of the Racal
helmets was not returned. The Safety Main-
tenance Center then could identify who had
been issued the helmet, and the department
in question had to replace it.
Since all equipment is tagged and all activi-
ties logged on a computer, the use of safety
equipment can be optimized in cooperation
with the manufacturer. One example is Racal
helmet filters. The center now knows exactly
how many times each of the 110 helmets has
been used. York estimates the annual savings
on filters alone to be around $30,000.
“The people working at the Safety Maint-
enance Center are all certified to inspect the
safety equipment we issue. All equipment is
clearly tagged and identified, has its designat-
ed storage area, and we know exactly when
it expires or requires servicing. We dismantle,
clean, and inspect everything before it is re-
issued,” says York.
Based on this success, all contractors
working at the smelter are also offered the
use of safety equipment from the center.
hi! > Halvor Molland
photos > Halvor Molland
Safety officer Jim York (right) and assistant Gregory Cook inspect a Racal helmet at the Safety Maintenance Center in Kurri Kurri, Australia.
safety first hi! 5
– 25%
Goal!
Hydro made its goal of a
20 percent drop in the total
number of injuries in 2006
– by a good margin.
The number of total recordable
injuries (TRI) has been
falling steadily over time,
although the ambitious target
of a 20 percent reduction in
injuries set by President and
CEO Eivind Reiten has not
been reached every year.
Last year, though, the trend
was very positive – a reduction
of around 25 percent, for
a TRI rate of 4.0. The reduction
in the TRI rate for 2005
was 10 percent.
“Certain business areas
have achieved great improvements,”
says Jack Simensen,
head of safety in the corporate
Health, Safety and Environment
department. “Several
units have achieved an improvement
of more than 50
percent, but we still have a
list of units that are lagging
behind, and unfortunately
certain units also have reported
a setback. This of course
gives grounds for follow-up.”
Despite the overall improvement,
Hydro experienced one
workplace fatality in 2006.
Jens Hinrichs, a project engineer
at the aluminium extrusion
plant in Birtley, England,
died in an accident in early
November.
“Every fatal accident is one
too many,” Simensen says,
adding that the number of
fatal accidents has also fallen
over time.
The fatal accident at Birtley
has been investigated, and a
report has been distributed
on the Hydro intranet so that
others can learn from the
experience.