Worker training on occupational health and safety
GRI 403-5
New employees must be trained in our five golden health and safety rules before they are approved to start working at any of our sites. In fact, the rules begin with: “No person is allowed to work for Oerlikon or to visit an Oerlikon site without having received adequate safety instruction and training.”
Training covers site-specific rules that pertain to matters such as personal protective equipment, walkways and speed limits, as well as workplace-specific rules. We recommend that training conclude with a test, but this is not mandatory. However, we do require that both the trainer and the trainee sign a written confirmation that training was conducted.
Oerlikon augments its standard occupational health and safety training with additional programs that target areas of existing or potential concern. Notable on the global front is HSE Day, which was launched in 2015. We have conducted HSE Day globally every year except in 2020 due to the safety measures in response to the pandemic. Employees at all sites participate in the program, activities and training, which each year raise awareness of a health, safety and/or environmental topic chosen as that year’s focus.
In 2021, the global HSE Day focused on risk/hazard identification, near miss and unsafe situations, and how employees can proactively contribute to safety by adhering to the four following principles of: Spot it; Solve it; Share it; and Learn it.
Past themes have included ergonomics, safe driving, “fit4life” (which encouraged physical activity, healthy eating and getting sufficient sleep), stress management, avoiding toxic substances and, in response to COVID-19, strategies for preventing infection and coping with the mental health impact of the pandemic. It was very important to us that our employees knew we are committed to helping them safeguard their physical well-being but also their ability to adapt to changes in the way they work, socialize, pursue educational and professional development opportunities and even deal with challenging family dynamics.
