OREANDA-NEWS. May 03, 2013. ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel and mining company, hosts its seventh annual Health and Safety Day at its sites globally. The theme, ‘Stop, think and act safely’, is continued this year to reflect the importance of this message. Around 208,000 employees and contractors took part in activities to mark the day last year, and this figure is expected to rise in 2013. 

“Many of our sites have proved they can work without fatalities and lost time injuries for an extended period of time. This is proof that our target for the Journey to Zero, ArcelorMittal’s global health and safety programme, is achievable everywhere”, says Lakshmi N Mittal, chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal.

“With impressive progress being made in some areas, I hope that this year’s event – ‘Stop, Think and Act Safely’ – will further strengthen our cause and make it possible to reduce the number of fatalities to zero”, he continues.

Journey to Zero also reflects the company’s commitment in delivering consistent improvements to its health and safety record. In 2012 the group achieved its best-ever lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) when the score fell to 1.0, down from 1.4 in 2011. For the first three months of this year the figure has dropped further to 0.86.

The company’s Health and Safety Day provides an opportunity for employees across ArcelorMittal’s global network to focus on best-practice sharing and reaffirmation of the Journey to Zero programme.  Apart from the safety topics that are aligned around the theme of the day, each site offers a diverse agenda of health related workshops and activities focusing on themes such as ergonomics, sight, hearing protection, respiratory protection and stress/fatigue. Members of the Group Management Board and Management Committee will also be taking part in activities at sites across the company.

Through its core values of sustainability, quality and leadership, ArcelorMittal operates in a responsible way with respect to the health, safety and wellbeing of all its employees, contractors and the communities in which it operates.