The Cement Sector Employers’ Union (ÇEİS) continues its activities for the establishment of a safe working environment in the cement sector and the development of occupational health culture in employees. The theme for 2021 of the activities carried out by the union within the scope of “April 28, World Occupational Health and Safety Day” determined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) was “Mechanical Hazards”. ÇEİS contributed to the “occupational safety” knowledge level of the sector with the activities it organized at member factories in 7 regions of Turkey.
ÇEİS, of which almost all companies operating in the cement sector are members, organized the April 28 World Occupational Health and Safety Day activities, which it has been performing for 8 years, within the scope of the “Mechanical Hazards” theme this year. During the month of April, awareness of mechanical hazards in factories was developed and solutions were sought at the events organized with the slogan “I am Aware of Mechanical Hazards, One Step Ahead Against Work Accidents” and the participation of a total of 17,500 employees from 7 regions of Turkey.
The cement sector has gained awareness with competition
The union designed the informative activity on occupational health and safety in the concept of the competition, as it contains incentive elements. ÇEİS firstly organized a special training on “Mechanical Hazards” attended by occupational safety professionals from each member factory. After the training, the relevant professionals transferred all their knowledge to the employees in their factories. In the next step of the events, unit-based teams of 5 people were established at the factories. Each team presented the mechanical hazards of their units and their solution suggestions to the factory management. The team, which won the first place among the projects submitted to the factory management, was awarded at the closing day event. The union donated saplings in cooperation with the Tema Foundation on behalf of 300 employees who were awarded as part of the events attended by 60 factories.
On the other hand, 35,000 table mats prepared to convey the messages regarding mechanical hazards directly to the employees and 19,000 stickers prepared to be attached to the helmets of the employees in order to raise awareness were shared with all ÇEİS member factories.
“Occupational Health and Safety is the Red Line of our Sector”
Stating that they have accepted raising awareness on occupational health and safety as one of their most important responsibilities for many years, ÇEİS Secretary General Dr. H. Serdar Şardan said: “As an institution that undertakes the duty of representing the cement sector, the health and safety of each employee is indispensable to us. Our sector, which adopts the principle of ‘Zero Work Accident’, has invested more than 150 million TL in occupational health and safety in the last 10 years. The investment amount per person reached approximately 10 million TL. However, we are the only employer union that has the Occupational Health and Safety Training Center in Turkey. In short, occupational health and safety is the red line of our sector”.
Stating that they celebrate April 28 World Occupational Health and Safety Day every year with a wide participation and various activities, Şardan emphasized that their aim is to develop the culture of occupational health and safety in the sector and to create healthy and safe workplaces: “We determined the main theme of our work this year as ‘Mechanical Hazards’ and we increased the awareness of these dangers with the activities attended by 17.500 employees. We have been proudly receiving the reward of our efforts in this field for many years. In the last 10 years, while our number of employees increased by 12% and our clinker production capacity increased by 47%, we achieved a decrease of 13% in the accident frequency rate and 83% in the accident severity rate. The cement sector, which is in the highly dangerous class, showed an exemplary performance to other sectors “.