Long-term safety work awarded with Chemical Industry Safety Prize

Borealis Polymers Oy, Dynea Chemicals Oy’s Hamina and Joroinen plants, and Eka Polymer Latex Oy have all been awarded the Chemical Industry Safety Prize for 2010. The companies were recognised for their long-term, extremely productive work to improve safety. The safety prize is awarded to companies committed to environmental, health and safety programme Responsible Care.

The Chemical Industry Safety Prize was distributed in 2010 for the first time. The purpose of the prize is to encourage companies in the chemical industry to work harder to improve safety and to achieve better results. The safety prize is a joint initiative by the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, the Industrial Union TEAM, the Union of Salaried Employees, and the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN.
 
Eka Polymer Latex Oy was awarded in the small enterprises category. The company’s particular merits were a long period without injuries and a progressive and positive atmosphere. The winner in the medium-sized enterprises category, Dynea Chemicals Oy, was especially praised for successfully improving safety at its Hamina and Joroinen plants. For its part, Borealis Polymers Oy has long carried out ground-breaking safety work and also shared its expertise and good practices with other companies. In recognition of this, Borealis Polymers Oy was awarded in the large enterprises category.
 
Overall, the work of companies in the chemical industry has yielded results. Companies committed to Responsible Care programme fell below the magic average limit of 10 injuries per million work hours in 2009. At the same time, almost half of the companies achieved a rate of zero in injuries statistics. The chemical industry is at the absolute cutting edge of all industries when it comes to safety work and workplace safety.
 
“The most productive element of safety work has been the commitment of all staff to multifaceted safety improvement measures,” comments CEO Timo Suonperä in praise of Eka Polymer Latex Oy’s strengths. “In the future the emphasis will be on managing safety in the maintenance subcontracting chain,” adds CEO Suonperä.
 
Petri Kaskes, director of Dynea Chemicals Oy’s Finnish plants, considers long-term preventative measures against injuries as well as workplace, health and environmental risks to be a key factor in the company’s safety work. “Staff receive regular training in safety matters. Workplace safety depends on both equipment and each one of us as employees,” stresses Kaskes.
 
Borealis Polymers Oy’s Location Leader Jari Salonen also ascribes the results to a staff who exhibit professionalism and commitment to safety matters and who work in close co-operation with service providers. “The foundations are of course a sound management system, clear responsibility in line organisation, and our HSE professionals. Transparency and continual improvement are also important to all of us in safety work,” notes Jari Salonen.
 
The safety prize is awarded to companies committed to environmental, health and safety programme Responsible Care. Assessments draw on company reporting of indicators that measure developments in the company’s safety level. In the first series of prizes there was a special emphasis on long-term positive development within a company and on improvement of safety work by subcontractors.
 
The decisions were made by the Responsible Care programme’s steering group, which includes representatives of the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, the Industrial Union TEAM, Union of Salaried Employees, and the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN).

Lisätietoja

Aimo Kastinen, Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, tel. + 358 400 604 348

Kari Mäkelä, Industrial Union TEAM, tel. + 358 50 303 9271
Arvi Herttua, Union of Salaried Employees, tel. + 358 50 525 2477
Seppo Järvenpää, Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN), tel. + 358 40 514 2601
 
Jari Salonen, Location Leader, Borealis Polymers Oy, tel. + 358 50 3790 283
Jarmo Paulamäki, Health, Safety and Environment Manager, Borealis Polymers Oy, tel. + 358 50 3794 057
Petri Kaskes, Director of Finnish Plants, Dynea Chemicals Oy,
tel. + 358 50 385 2202
Timo Suonperä, CEO, Eka Polymer Latex Oy, tel. + 358 400 682 869
 
For more information about the programme Responsible Care see:www.chemind.fi