There has been a permanent Group-wide occupational safety body within Vossloh since 2012 in the form of the Work Safety Committee. This has initiated important steps to harmonize the occupational safety conditions across the various divisions in recent years. For example, a standard occupational safety policy has been developed, which is mandatory for all companies around the world. This policy defines the vision of the zero accident strategy. The Work Safety Committee also played a key role in the development of the Group’s own SAFE+ accident prevention app.
One of the aims of the current Group-wide sustainability initiative is to reduce the frequency of workplace accidents by 20 percent annually. Relevant key figures for goal achievement are the internationally used variables such as lost time accident frequency rate (LTAFR) and lost time accident severity rate (LTASR), as well as the number of potential accident risks reported and minimized via the SAFE+ app.
The Work Safety Committee, headed by the head of Corporate Sustainability, plays a key role in implementing this policy in close coordination with the Group Works Council. In the 2022 fiscal year, the Committee continued to focus on the various measures and programs used to improve occupational safety at Vossloh. The Work Safety Committee launched a new global training campaign to encourage employees to identify and report occupational safety risks entitled „See Something. Say Something.“ and put together a self-evaluation plan which all sites can use to assess their occupational safety measures. One of the key aims of the plan is to encourage everyone within the Group to learn together and from each other and continuously improve occupational safety at Vossloh.
In line with this, the full Executive Board meets with the heads of the business units on a quarterly basis to discuss the latest developments in terms of occupational safety, the frequency, severity and causes of workplace accidents, as well as the preventive and corrective measures implemented in response.
All of these measures had a very positive impact on occupational safety at Vossloh in the 2022 fiscal year. Workplace accidents have been documented at Vossloh on the basis of uniform criteria, over and above what is required by law. Accidents resulting in lost time due to an employee’s ill health are reported directly to the Executive Board.
| Workplace accidents (Vossloh Group) | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Lost time accidents (LTA)1 | 107 | 118 |
| Lost time accident frequency rate (LTAFR)2 | 13.6 | 16.4 |
| Lost time accident severity rate (LTASR)3 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
1 Accidents resulting in injury-related absence of employees or temporary staff involving lost time of at least 1 hour.
2 Frequency of accidents resulting in injury-related absence of employees or temporary staff involving lost time of at least 1 hour, measured in the number of workplace accidents in relation to the cumulative actual work time, based on 1 million hours worked.
3 Severity of accidents resulting in injury-related absence of employees or temporary staff involving lost time of at least 1 hour, measured in the duration of lost time in relation to the cumulative actual work time, based on 1,000 hours worked.
The accident frequency rate (LTAFR) was reduced by 17.1 percent last year compared to the previous year. Vossloh succeeded in reducing the severity of accidents (LTASR) by a significant 42.9 percent.
As in the previous year, there were no work-related fatalities in the Vossloh Group in 2022.
Both accidents with and without lost time and near accidents are analyzed at Vossloh in order to learn from them for the future and reduce the number of accidents at all the company’s sites. Prevention is a matter of importance to the company in order to stop workplace accidents from happening in the first place. This includes regular conduct-based safety inspections designed to raise safety awareness among the employees, regular safety instruction and training for all the staff, online training sessions on safety-relevant subjects, the provision of comprehensive protective equipment, safety markings at the various workstations and awareness campaigns. Impressive videos or safety flashes (anonymized summaries) of accidents are also frequently used. The “Four seconds for safety” campaign is regularly discussed at the start of a working day or a get-together within the wide, with brief reference being made to a specific safety aspect, and not just in the production area.
The SAFE+ app plays an important role in minimizing potential risks and consequently achieving the goal of reducing the frequency of workplace accidents by 20 percent annually across the Group. As of December 31, 2022, SAFE+ was available in English, French and German. A version with other languages used within the Group will be made available in 2023. Vossloh employees use the app to report safety risks which they spot at work in order to systematically reduce hazards at all sites and in all areas. During 2022, employees reported a total of 1,309 potential accident risks, 975 of which (74 percent) were minimized without delay.
If employees have to travel internationally for their work for Vossloh, they can make use of the Group’s travel safety management system. They will then receive comprehensive support with regard to medical and safety aspects of their trip, as well as precautions for possible emergencies. The company’s Travel Security Managers and worldwide Assistance Centers, in addition to a service provider’s assistance app, are available for this purpose.