Lindström aims for certified health and safety management practices in 2022
The safety of our employees is deeply embedded into our We Care culture; the well-being of our employees and our work community is a matter of honour to us. We believe in treating all people equally and guaranteeing them safe working conditions, and we work to ensure this every day. Therefore, we aim to certify the Lindström Management System in accordance with the ISO 45001, the internationally recognized standard for occupational health and safety management.
We have a long history of developing occupational safety practices throughout the company. This work is guided by our harmonized Management System, and in addition, there are laws, regulations, and other guidelines in place for a safe working place. So far, we have been relatively successful; in 2021, we avoided all fatal accidents at work. Our injury rate in the same year was 6.2, and the sick leave was at 4.3%, but each one of these was one too many. We aim for zero accidents, and we are taking active steps in promoting a Zero Accidents mindset in our everyday work and actions, also targeting zero occupational diseases.
We are serious about improving employee safety
Lindström operates in 24 countries in Europe and in Asia. Even though the countries we operate in are quite different from each other, our operating methods are largely uniform in all the countries. Our Management System ensures that our customers are treated equally wherever they are and that our employees follow the same guidelines on common processes. In occupational safety and its development, we utilise continuous improvement models, as well as clear and comprehensive guidelines.
To help us develop Lindström to be an even safer workplace, we are now seeking for our Management System to comply with the requirements of the ISO 45001 standard. The world’s first International Standard for occupational health and safety, it provides a framework for us to help increase safety, reduce workplace risks even further and enhance the work-life balance of our employees. It will be our tool to ensure that good practices for health and safety are adopted in all our locations, and that we work to reduce risks and accidents as well as to create a healthy workplace throughout the Lindström countries.
Promoting a safer work community through a safety observation campaign
In 2022, one of the most important focus areas for the group’s health and safety work is to enhance the number of safety observations and handling them. We have, for instance, initiated a year-long campaign for safety observations. Every Lindströmer is challenged to do one safety observation during the year. Employees can report these easily with their smartphones, directly to our auditing system.
Safety observation is an event that does not cause personal injury or property damage but involves a risk of an accident at work. E.g. small wounds and bruises are safety observation if they do not require intervention by a healthcare professional or sick leave.
In 2021, the number of reported safety observations was 3.152. This year, with the campaign, we are aiming for more than 4.000 observations, but the added value comes from making people aware of the possible places of risk or dangers at the workplace. We hope that each Lindströmer adopts “the safety first” attitude, preventing and minimising all accidents even before they happen. My hope is that this will become a reality sooner rather than later because every cut, bruise or accident is one too many. We Care for our people in every way.
