This commitment, strongly endorsed by the worldsteel Board of Members, is accompanied by a set of six principles (see page 3, Key points from this report).

Protecting the safety and health of everyone who works in or around the steel industry is of vital importance to all our members. The duty of care and social responsibility demands that everyone is able to work in a safe and healthy work environment.

worldsteel provides up-to-date guidance, data, processes and procedures freely available to members to help the steel industry deliver on its key mission to eliminate accidents and manage working environments with the highest standards of safety and health conditions.

Safety data collected from our membership show that the steel industry has seen a steady and notable reduction in the lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) over the past decade. The injury rate per million hours worked has decreased by 83% since 2006.

Although our lost time injury frequency rate statistics are promising, an integrated focus, including leading and lagging indicators, is required to gain a greater insight into the safety and health performance of the industry.

* A lost time injury (LTI) is an incident that causes an injury that prevents a person from returning to their next scheduled shift or work period. Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) is the number of Lost Time Injuries per million man-hours. LTIFR includes fatalities.

1. Safety culture and leadership
A sound organisational culture has safety embedded.

Attitudes and behaviours that support the goal of zero harm typically contribute to safer operations and better overall company results.

These are deeply reflected in the actions of employees and contractors. Newcomers embrace and internalise these values in order to remain and grow in the organisation.

Effective leadership is critical to achieving and sustaining a positive safety culture.

A strong and visible commitment from the very top of the company shared by all levels of management is essential to achieve a healthy accident-free workplace.

Steel companies that have the best safety records are those whose chief executives are held accountable by the board of directors for the safety and health of all people working on their sites, employees and contractors alike. These are companies where all levels of management are actively involved and support a safe and healthy approach to work on the shop floor.

2. Occupational safety management
Occupational safety management promotes the safety of employees, contractors and visitors by preventing personal injuries in the workplace, and has a strong focus on primary prevention of exposure to hazards..

3. Occupational health management
In its widest definition, occupational health management encompasses the physical, mental and social well-being of the people working in the company. The focus is placed on long-term effects on exposure to hazards. The health of workers has several determinants, including risk factors at the workplace leading to cancers, musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory diseases, hearing loss, circulatory diseases, stress related disorders and others.

4. Process safety management 
Process safety is a blend of engineering, operations and management skills focused on preventing catastrophic accidents, particularly structural collapse, explosions, fires and toxic releases associated with loss of containment of energy or dangerous substances such as toxic gases, molten metal, chemicals and petroleum products.

The manufacturing of steel involves processes with intrinsic hazards that need careful management. The measures needed to control these hazards are often complex. The focus of process safety management is not limited to protecting the people within the company but also includes the environment, assets and surrounding community.

Most countries have their own legislation on occupational health and safety which must always be respected. Many steelmakers also follow international standards on occupational health and safety management.

The most commonly used international standard on occupational health and safety management systems are OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001.

Compliance with these standards demonstrates a company’s commitment to continually check and improve its health and safety performance. An occupational health and safety management system is often combined with similar management systems such as Environment Management System (ISO 14001) and Quality Management System (ISO 9001).

As a rule, steelmakers should choose to adopt the highest standards and systems available and they should exceed the minimum legal requirements.

Safety and health metrics survey
Measuring performance is one aspect of achieving good safety and health standards. worldsteel encourages all of its member companies to participate in the safety performance data collection and report as accurate information as possible.

This information not only concerns the number of incidents that occur (number of fatalities, lost time injuries, medical treatment incidents, first aid incidents, near misses or safety deviations) but also all the actions taken to avoid further similar incidents.

The metrics allow organisations to identify areas that need improvement and benefit from the strong support of their peers in the industry to share their knowledge.

Safety and health
There are a number of safety and health best practice examples and guidance notes on specific topics available from worldsteel’s membership-only platform. Provided by industry safety managers and based on actual working practice these can be utilised in any plant or company to prevent serious safety incidents.

Safety and health excellence recognition
A good practice or a good idea that works well in one plant can also be a success in another plant and prevent injuries and save lives. worldsteel’s Safety and Health Committee recognises each year member companies that are actively working to improve safety and health within the steel industry. Since 2008, more than 50 examples of best practice have been recognised and made available to the whole industry. An additional 200 submissions are available online for members to consult and reuse within their own premises.

Safety workshops
Safety workshops allow people to meet face to face to discuss and exchange best practices. worldsteel provides specific safety workshops around the world.

Serious safety occurrences sharing
If an incident occurs, there is an enormous amount of knowledge to be gained from reviewing the causes and actions taken to prevent a re-occurrence.

worldsteel promotes the sharing of serious safety occurrences among its members in order to avoid a repeat of similar incidents worldwide. worldsteel members can share serious safety occurrences online and exchange questions and answers on a safety forum.

Shop floor safety audits
worldsteel performs shop floor safety audits or safety observation activities upon request. This allows members to develop their own observation and audit programmes.

worldsteel Day for Safety and Health
The worldsteel Day for Safety and Health, previously known as Steel Safety Day, takes place on 28th April every year, coinciding with the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work. It promotes the prevention of injuries and diseases in the global steel industry by ensuring the availability of adequate and effective controls.