“Make the right choice for your child’s safety”

All too often the news media only reports on the negative incidents in our industry. The Aluminum Plant Safety Blog hopes to change that by posting positive stories about our industry (hopefully once a week!?). Here is a recent story that news media should publish.

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) today, Monday, May 19, 2014 launched its safety awareness campaign “Make the right choice for your child’s safety” at the Alba Oasis Hall. The three-day campaign, which will end on May 21, 2014, seeks to educate Alba employees, their families and the community on the importance of using car seats for children.

The campaign was launched in the presence of authorities from the General Directorate of Traffic and was attended by Alba’s Executive Management and employees from various departments including Safety, Health and Environment (SHE), Alba Health Care Centre, Public Relations and Alba Union.

The “Make the right choice for your child’s safety” campaign will comprise lectures and presentations on the importance of using car seats for children by authorities from the General Directorate of Traffic. As part of this programme, a two-hour awareness session for the general public will be held from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm at the Bahrain City Centre on May 19, 2014.

To further emphasis on its message, Alba will distribute free baby car seats to its employees with children under the under the age of 18 months on May 21, 2014 at the Alba Club.

Welcoming the campaign, Alba's Chief Executive, Tim Murray said: "At Alba, safety is our number one priority and this is not only within our plant but also extends to the families and communities around us. Car safety for children is an important issue for which we raise want to raise awareness. Even the smallest of accidents could result in a fatality if the child is not in a safety seat or not wearing a seatbelt. We hope this safety campaign will be a call-to-action for all the people in Bahrain to improve car safety.”

Congratulations to ALBA for initiating this campaign. This campaign was to educate Alba employees, their families and the community on the importance of using car seats for children. When the APSB travels through the industry one question we typically ask to the workers we meet; “Do you have a family? tell me about them.” Usually the worker smiles and tells us about their family, their kids, etc. Then the APSB responds “That is why you should care about the safety of yourself and coworkers.” When workers realize that their safety means something to someone else (e.g., their family) they can acknowledge the importance of practicing good safety practices at work. If the worker who was asked the question about their family still does not acknowledge the importance of performing their job safety, the APSB has one final comment. The pain of losing a loved one in a work incident is endless. The family, friends, and coworkers of the deceased worker never forget, their pain of that loss is never ending.

Thank you Alba for taking such a proactive approach to safety. It is immeasurable the amount of incidents that have been spared by the multitude of safety programs that you have enacted. Let alone the motivation that you have provided to other companies to reproduce the programs that you have publicized. The APSB commends ALBA on publicizing safety related topics. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. The industry is watching, and what they see they admire!