Read the DyStar Sustainability Report 2011...

Occupational Health and Safety
Workplace safety is a core value at DyStar. The production of dyes involves
handling a variety of chemicals, including hazardous substances with
potential health and safety hazards. Employee safety therefore is a top
priority for us.
Potential health and safety risks in a chemical plant may emerge from
handling of hazardous materials, hazards of pressure vessels, hazardous
chemical reactions, flammable gases, vapours and dust hazards. Other
potential hazards include heat stress, accidental escapes or spills of
hazardous material, hazards due to corrosion, work in confined spaces,
slips, trips and falls, working with pipelines, plant repair, instrument
failures, exposure to harmful substances and disposal of waste.
Common injuries include chemical burns, skin irritation, respiratory
irritation, back ache and other musculoskeletal injuries, eye injury and
slip, trip and fall.
We have integrated the Responsible Care program into our occupational
health and safety policies. This includes a commitment to protecting
company employees from direct and long-term health risks by identifying
health hazards and providing information, training and suitable protection.
Occupational health and safety policies that DyStar has implemented
cover:
• Operating procedures
• Occupational safety
• Preventive healthcare
• Safe technology
• Hazardous substances
• Production processes
We are continuously improving our approach to plant safety. Technical
standards in plants are adapted in line with technological advancements.
Production and other equipment is inspected regularly and systematically
for safety. Detailed procedures have been implemented in plants to
deal with incidents and to limit their impact. Each DyStar plant has
developed and implemented a detailed hazard prevention plan. Regular
training is provided to employees to enable them to handle plant and
equipment in a safe manner. A thorough emergency response plan
has been put in place at each plant to effectively handle accidents and
hazardous situations.
Employees participate in safety committees set up at the plant level to
regularly review, discuss and take measures for continues improvement in
safety performance. Safety committees meet at least once a month to
review safety matters. Monthly safety inspections are also carried out
at each plant.
We regularly track occupational health and safety performance. In
2011, there were only eight recordable incidents of workplace injuries
across 16 DyStar plants worldwide as compared to 13 incidents in
2010. All the eight incidents involved male employees. There were no
recordable incidents of injury in 14 plants, an improvement from 2010
when only 10 plants reported no recordable injuries. In total, 34 workdays
were lost on account of workplace injuries as against 490 days in 2010.
One of the unfortunate incidents of injury which took place in the
Pietermaritzburg plant in South Africa in November 2011 was reported
in the local media. An employee involved in the incident sustained
chemical burns when he was in the process of making a new trial
product for a customer. A sudden chemical reaction occurred before
he could secure the lid of the vessel, this resulted in splashing of chemicals
on his body. He was immediately rushed to hospital to receive treatment.
He has since fully recovered and has resumed work.
The plant management has introduced new measures after a thorough
investigation of the incident to prevent recurrence. The plant management
also partnered with the customer to provide Hazard & Operability
Analysis (HAZOP) training for the manufacturing of new products to
all operators.
There were no incidents involving fatality in 2011 as was the case in
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