Sunday, January 4, 2015

2014 was the deadliest year ever...what will 2015 be?



So with the New Year, the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog would like to comment about 2014. It is our sincere hope not to be flippant or disrespectful when discussing last year. Which in terms of fatalities reached historical levels. Unofficially, over 200 workers died in the aluminium industry in 2014. Two incidents contributed to the high number. The dust/fine explosion in China, and the molten metal explosion in Asia totaled over 150 fatalities. It seemed last year that there was a never ending cascade of incidents involving injuries and fatalities. It is our sincere hope that 2015 will be different. The incidents varied with hazard and location. From moveable equipment, confined space, lockout tagout, molten metal explosions, fine explosions, etc. The length of service of the workers who passed away ranged from newly hired (less than 6 months) to some workers who had over 20 years in service.

The APSB prays for the families, friends, and coworkers of the injured and deceased workers that their pain may lessen overtime. With as much sadness that 2014, there was some positive stories too. There were numerous aluminium companies who had surpassed their consecutive days without an incident record. It is these companies that others use as motivation and benchmarking when setting safety goals. It is our hope that 2015 will have less incidents. Resulting in fewer injuries and fatalities.

On a side note, the APSB does want to state that even with the high fatality count in 2014, we are very proud to be associated with our industry. Through our experiences over the past year we have seen numerous aluminium companies being proactive in trying to eliminate incidents from occurring. It is from these site visits that the APSB get motivated to continue. The APSB is humble to know how many people in our industry read this blog. While understanding the delicate balance that we play. Our intention has never been to place blame on the worker(s), company, nor our industry. It is our hope that these incidents never be repeated. Recently the APSB was at an aluminium plant in the United States and saw the benefit that this blog has generated. While at the plant and discussing recent incidents the plant’s personnel considered reviewing some equipment to confirm that the events discussed could never occur at this plant.

So for 2015, the APSB would sincerely appreciate receiving information about the positive safety news at your company. Thank you for reading.

Please comment.


4 comments:

  1. Aluminum production is a very dangerous industry. I have witnessed incidents, including death. Unfortunately, young managers forget about it and save money on security

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  2. Thanks for your comments. On our travels around the globe we find that aluminum production is dangerous in some facilities whereas not so much in others. Excluding technology, if the plant manager is proactive and has a good EHS manager a good safety record can be achieved. It takes work, a lot of work. But it can be done. On the other hand if the plant manager is not proactive or the EHS manager operates through fear chances are their safety record will be poor.

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  3. The aluminum industry is fortunate to have an advocate group who is not only knowledgeable about what it takes to be safe, but also endeavors to teach it: the Aluminum Association. Bringing experts forward to provide their expertise both in workshops and through its publications.
    Young and old may not know what they don't know, as taught in Human Performance, but acquiring this knowledge is actually easy for those who chose to look.

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  4. Great points. No doubt the Aluminum Association's programs have over the years saved countless lives and trained thousands of workers. It was only because of these great programs and assistance by the AA that not there are other aluminium trade associations offering safety programs. From the European Aluminium Association to the Brazilian Aluminium Association and numerous others in between have took an active role in our industry in teaching the latest best practices toward safety.

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