Foreword

World Steel Association (worldsteel) members show their commitment to employee and contractor safety and well-being through their actions. The projects featured in this brochure highlight the best and most innovative ideas and technologies to better care for people in our industry.

This year, worldsteel and the judging panel noticed a stronger focus on occupational health and well-being. Members are leading the shift to a blame-free, psychologically safe workplace, navigating challenges with vision and innovative approaches.

I would like to congratulate and thank the successful companies and all the participants in this programme for their outstanding contribution and dedication to this cause.

Four categories and six recognised companies:

 


Safety culture and leadership

One recognition

BlueScope Steel Limited | Integrating Human & Organisational Performance (HOP) into Foundational HSE Leadership | Global

Embedding leadership and culture is a continual journey. Through previous worldsteel awards, BlueScope has demonstrated its evolution in Human and Organisational Performance (HOP). From 2019 to 2023 BlueScope undertook various initiatives, including leadership training for the Board, Executive Leadership Team, and front-line leaders, and introduced new concepts such as the HOP Principles, Blackline / Blueline Model, Learning Teams and Better Questions / Stronger Solutions.

This 2024 award builds on the aforementioned strategy to show how these concepts have been embedded into leadership programmes, frontline leader training and risk controls focus-group programmes.

The following three Business Unit-specific programmes exemplify BlueScope’s approach to embedding HOP and associated practices into day-to-day work.

1. 7 Safety Fundamentals – Australia
A programme created to emphasise safety during post-COVID-19 operations, involving key leadership activities around
seven safety topics:

  1. Identify risk
  2. Verify critical controls
  3. Demonstrate felt leadership (walk the floor)
  4. Conduct tiered audits
  1. Respond to injuries and incidents
  2. Conduct daily safety meetings
  3. Prioritise training

This programme, applied across BlueScope’s Australian operations consisting of over 7,000 people across multiple sites, is accessible to everyone within BlueScope’s global footprint.

2. Empowering Safe and Healthy Teams – Australia
A three-day co-designed safety and well-being leadership programme to enhance leaders’ skills in creating a positive safety culture. To date, 35 sessions have been conducted, training a total of 624 frontline leaders.

3. Small Group Activity (SGA) teams – ASEAN
Teams are formed to manage risks proactively through various activities, with senior leaders acting as mentors. These teams have been instrumental in driving both incremental and significant safety improvements at the grassroots level, as well as general business and operational improvements.

600+

‘Empowering safe and healthy teams’ attendees

200

activities completed as the result of frontline teams

6,000

views of the various 7 safety fundamentals videos


Occupational safety management

Two recognitions

Tenaris | Automatic anticollision system for
small forklifts | Italy

After two accidents involving small forklifts (< six tonnes) and pedestrians in the manoeuvring area at the Tenaris Dalmine warehouse, a plan was launched to implement a ‘fail-safe’ solution to prevent collisions.

A proof-of-concept trial was organised using an advanced AI computer vision system based on machine learning algorithms connected to the forklift’s controller area network (CAN) bus.

The new processing unit acquires real-time images from four AI cameras and triggers three actions to identify collision trajectories with pedestrians:

  1. Acoustic alert for the driver
  2.  Visual alert for the driver with three levels of severity depending on the distance from the intelligently shaped forklift perimeter.
  3. Automatic deceleration if the calculated time to collision is below 6 seconds or if pedestrians are inside the blue-LED perimeter.

Additional features allowing for risk mitigation:

  • Blindspot: A flashing front blue LED projector enables pedestrians to spot the forklift.
  • Pedestrian awareness: The blue LED perimeter enhances the perception of risk, even if pedestrians are not focused or are in a noisy environment.
  • ‘Transparent’ payload view: The positioning of the cameras allows the driver to see obstacles beyond the payload.

Benefits:

  • Critical parameters are fully customisable.
  • The algorithm minimises false positive alarms.
  • The system can be installed on any small forklift equipped with a CAN bus.
  • Compared to the risk of a potentially fatal accident, the cost can be easily and affordably spread over a typical rental agreement, covering the life cycle of the equipment.

Ternium | Elimination of human interface through robotic operation in continuous casting | Brazil

Since March 2018, Ternium Brazil has been using robots in tasks related to the transfer of steel from the ladle to the tundish. This follows their vision of zero human exposure to risk of accidents such as burns, explosions, heat, and being hit by moving machine components or falling components.

The installed robot performs the operations required for the plant to operate:

  • Ladle shroud manipulation
  • Application of tundish insulation powder
  • Ladle shroud showering
  • Probes (temperature, hydrogen and sampling)
  • Opening ladle with oxygen lancing

In conventional continuous casting, each casting machine typically requires the presence of two ladle operators, one technician, and one continuous casting coordinator. The implementation of robotic technology has enabled a reduction in the workforce by one worker per machine. This not only improves the quality of the final product but also enhances safety by reducing operator exposure.

Considering these findings, it is clear that continued investment in robotic technologies and risk management strategies will maintain these positive trends and ensure a safer, more productive future for the steel manufacturing sector.

After the implementation:

0

further cases of noncompliance within a safe distance from manoeuvring forklifts were recorded.

0

accidents were reported.

Risk factor reduction by using robotic technology:

91%

risk reduction: Handling of hot ladle shroud manipulator
.

88%

risk reduction: Leakage of steel from the ladle
.


Occupational health management

Two recognitions

Gerdau | +Care Program | Brazil

Gerdau Brazil introduced the +Care Program to address the physical and psychological issues that often distract employees from their tasks. These issues have frequently been identified as the root causes of accidents.

This programme offers employees and their families free and confidential 24/7 psychological, financial, legal and social support. The programme starts with a test to monitor conditions that may affect an individual’s readiness for work and potentially put the employee at risk.

The +Care Program incorporates the following practices:

  • Mental Health Coaching: Structured coaching for leaders designed to support employees showing signs of mental health issues
  • OK With Your Money: Financial education for employees
  • Journey of Life: Support for employees in developing a meaningful life post-career
  • Baby and Company: Emotional support to employees returning from paternity/maternity leave
  • Breath: Strengthens the emotional health of employees, offering a process of decompression and encouraging selfdevelopment
  • Wellness Seeders: Trains employees in a culture of care, with healthy and psychologically safe collective environments
  • In Movement: Encourages employees to engage in physical activities
Total absenteeism %

Liberty Steel | You Matter. We Care. | Australia

Liberty Steel’s programme rallying cry, “You Matter. We Care. I’m Here to Listen,” unites the company in its mission to create a culture of trust, eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health issues, and establish a workplace free from psychosocial risks.

The programme is built on three interconnected pillars:

  • Psychosocial risk management: Normalises the reporting and management of psychosocial hazards through an organisational framework and offers training to identify these hazards and understand the importance of becoming active bystanders. Finally, it prioritises hazard identification activities to determine necessary actions.
  • Mental health: Focuses on promoting mental health through training, response, networking, and support tools and resources, including Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA), and promoting the use of an Employee Assistance Program.
  • Well-being: Focuses on enhancing the general health and well-being of employees and their families by addressing the six foundations of well-being. Initiatives include a returnto-work and recovery programme, well-being promotion initiatives, and a series of 12 ‘Bento Box’ webinars to educate and encourage employees on the importance of self-care.
You Matter. We care. I'm here to listen

Gerdau also conducts readiness tests:

17,000+

employees take the Readiness Test at the beginning of each shift every day.

1,100+

leaders evaluate results daily to assess employees’ ability to perform high-risk tasks, and periodically to identify repetitive issues.

2,000+

specialised professionals support employees and their families with the issues identified.

In 2023

the +Care program was used by more than 4,500 Gerdau employees and their family members.

Liberty Steel campaign results:

1,000

people have participated in the self-care ‘Bento Box’ webinars.
.

50%

of employees trained as active bystanders.
.

200%

increase in the reporting of psychosocial hazards, a reduction in the number of harmful behaviours reported.

1 in 16

employees have volunteered and been trained as Mental Health First Aiders – more than 300 in total.


Process safety management

One recognition

Tata Steel | Online purging assistance to eliminate risk of explosion in gas cleaning plant (GCP) area of blast furnace | India

In order to maintain the integrity of gas lines carrying hazardous co-product gases, regular inspection and maintenance are required. Purging is necessary to ensure the system is free of toxic and flammable gases.

In the conventional process, there is a risk of insufficient purging of the gas line due to manual tasks such as opening the nitrogen valve and taking gas measurements through vents. The operator’s skill, knowledge and experience can also affect the quality of the purging. The process is time-consuming, requiring volume replacement throughout the gas line. The line is monitored manually for zero ppm (parts per million) gas at different vent exhaust points. Continuous monitoring is required during purging. Also, this process leads to excess consumption of purge gas and prolonged purging downtime resulting in extended shutdowns.

Tata Steel’s new purging assistance model tracks real-time updates of the purging process. A set of remote-operated valves has been installed at strategic locations, and gas analysers have been installed at vents. A system of logic and interlocks was also developed, enabling the operator to monitor and purge the entire gas line from the control room.

ZERO

high potential risk incident due to insufficient purging

215,000 US$

savings per shutdown due to purging time reduction

50%

reduction in purging time

100%

safe shutdown and startup of the plant