Knauf Insulation campaign aims to improve safety by tackling risk

By Knauf Insulation APAC
May 30, 2022

Knauf Insulation celebrated World Day for Safety and Health at Work with the launch of a safety campaign focused on managing risk at work — It’s Up To Us.

The campaign supports Knauf Insulation’s sustainability strategy For A Better World which commits the company to zero harm and sets an ambitious target to reduce the Total Recordable Incident Rate* (TRIR) by almost 40% from 8.2 in 2019 to a maximum of 5 by 2023 in Europe/Middle East/Asia.

Dominique Bossan, CEO of Knauf Insulation Europe/Middle East/Asia and Member of the Knauf Group Management Committee, said: “Today’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work is yet another opportunity to focus on creating a safety and health culture that will help reduce the number of work related accidents.

It’s Up To Us to keep everyone safe at work. It’s all of us to ensure that we manage the risk and that we care for all of us.
Dominique Bossan, CEO of Knauf Insulation Europe/Middle East/Asia and Member of the Knauf Group Management Committee

Risk is everywhere 24/7

The campaign featured It’s Up To Us workshops for over 4,500 Knauf Insulation employees across 21 manufacturing sites in 15 countries.

At our local manufacturing plant in Johor, Malaysia our plant manager Erkan Ucok and H&S Manager Kalai Selvan Ramalingam hosted sessions with the ‘manage risk safely’ message highlighted in internal communication, plant and office posters and a specially commissioned animated safety video featuring Knauf Insulation’s safety star Ki.

Johor workshop
Johor workshop
Johor workshop

     

Philippe Coune

Philippe Coune, Knauf Insulation’s Group Health, Safety, Environment (HSE) Lead for Europe/Middle East/Asia, says: “Risk does not discriminate when it comes to location, situation or job description. Risk is everywhere and impacts everyone.

“That means we ALL must make the decision to keep our colleagues safe. We cannot wait for a manager, supervisor or HSE colleague to make a safety call. Whatever we do and wherever we are, It’s Up To Us to immediately act if we see an unsafe situation or unsafe behaviour.”

 

At Knauf Insulation there is a major commitment to safety. For example, all 21 manufacturing plants are certified in line with ISO 45001 safety management systems, there are work instructions in place, risk controls, life-saving rules, safety principles established and every access to protective equipment provided.

“All these things are great in theory,” says Philippe Coune. “But the reality is that risk is everywhere 24/7 due to constant change. That is why It’s Up To Us to manage risk all the time.”

Everyone must manage risk

In recent years Knauf Insulation has achieved significant safety progress following a high TRIR of 23.44 in 2013. At the end of 2020 the company recorded a TRIR of 6.3 and last year a TRIR of 5.4.

Across the company the number of hazard spotting tours, safety observations and safety dialogues doubled to a total of 38,000 safety actions in 2021 compared to 2020 — a year that saw the company record of a hundred days without a Lost Time Accident.

Philippe adds: “World Day for Safety and Health at Work highlights the importance of continuous improvement when it comes to safety and the vital role everyone must play to manage risk. It’s Up To Us.”

Ki 2022

* Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) records all significant accidents and is calculated by dividing the number of injuries by the total number of hours worked by all employees and then multiplied by a million — a methodology used across a range of industries to compare the effectiveness of safety programmes.