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Occupational Risk Prevention & Social Responsibility

Occupational Risk Prevention

Continuing with its commitment to improve accident rates at its companies, the steel industry – through UNESID -- drew up its own occupational accident statistics in 2010 in order to compare and improve its figures. 2009 was an outstanding year throughout Spain in terms of the decrease in occupational accidents, as a result of low levels of activity. The increase of production in 2010 brought with it an upturn in accidents which had more to do with the increase in the number of hours worked than with an actual rise in accident rates. The index for the frequency of lost-time accidents (LTAs) in the steel industry in 2010 was 23.5%, compared to 40.1%1 for industry as a whole in Spain in 2009, and the steel industry's seriousness index was 0.7% compared to 1% for industry as a whole in Spain in 2009. These figures demonstrate that the sector is continuing to improve the occupational health and safety record of its companies, working towards the objective of "making steel with zero accidents”.

2010 saw the introduction of the following changes in various aspects of regulations under the Spanish Health and Safety Strategy (2007-2012): the system for reducing contributions in cases of occupational contingencies for companies that have made particular efforts to reduce their occupational accident rates (the so-called "bonus system") was approved in Royal Decree 404/2010; statutory instruments were introduced to implement Royal Decree 39/97 on the accreditation of risk prevention services; and new regulations were introduced to set basic criteria for organising resources for the development of health-related activities by risk prevention services, among other points.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

2010 also saw a great deal of activity in regard to social responsibility. Voluntary schemes developed by some companies, such as the "Steel Sustainability" scheme, were supplemented by the final stages of administrative processing of sustainable economy legislation, including regulations concerned with social responsibility, and by the approval by ISO of social responsibility guidelines which should give rise to a certifiable international standard.

Some producers of long steel products for construction formed an association to develop a new model of corporate sustainability under the name Sostenibilidad Siderúrgica ("Steel Sustainability"). The first certificates of compliance with the association’s system were awarded to two UNESID members.