NS BlueScope promotes work safety

Occupational safety remains a critical issue in Vietnam as the number of work accidents and fatal work injuries both increased. In 2015, a scaffolding collapse at Taiwan’s Formosa steel complex in the central province of Ha Tinh killed at least 16 construction workers and injured 27. In the same year, a scaffolding suddenly gave way at the construction site of a 17-story building in Ho Chi Minh City, leaving three Vietnamese workers dead and four others injured.

According to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of Work Safety, 7,620 work accidents were reported in 2016 affecting 7,785 workers, of whom 666 were killed and 1,704 injured.

Employers were mainly blamed for lethal injuries, as nearly 53 per cent of deaths in workplace accidents were a result of negligence, including failure to adopt work safety processes and measures, unsafe equipment, and failure to train employees in work safety.

Work accidents caused serious losses not only to businesses and employees but the whole society. NS BlueScope recorded an outstanding safety performance of 8,000 days without lost time injury and has decided to share its experiences with the business community.

Speaking at the recent seminar titled “Growing sustainably with partners”, Vo Minh Nhut, country president of NS BlueScope Vietnam, said that good safety management strategy has helped the firm to decrease the number of work accidents to zero over the past 23 years. The excellent safety performance proves the commitments of employers, employees, and stakeholders.

“The high level of employee participation in our on-going workplace safety awareness programmes and a culture of concern for the well-being of co-workers and the work environment have made our operations at NS BlueScope safer,” he said.

To promote sustainable development, NS BlueScope encourages its partners to participate in safety improvement activities and commit to continuous improvements in operational procedures.

He elaborated that work safety has been critical to the success of enterprises for three reasons. Employees will show more loyalty to their companies as they feel safe and cared for in the workplace. Companies will gain trust and credibility with partners for sustainable business practices. Lastly, unnecessary expenses for work accidents will be reduced significantly.

Scott Croll, managing director of Linfox Vietnam, highly appreciated the steady safety performance of NS BlueScope. Linfox is looking for long-term cooperation with NS BlueScope due to the similarity in their work safety requirements.

He added that there are several activities to improve safety in the workplace, like training employees and developing a safety culture.