Health & Healthcare

Atlas Copco Engages in Company-Wide SafeStart Program

Jan 14, 2016 1:05 PM ET
Campaign: Atlas Copco: Safety in the Workplace

Safety first. It’s a phrase commonly uttered by managers, splayed across colorful, eye-catching placards on production floors and posted on break room bulletin boards.

To renew an already strong commitment to workplace and employee safety, Atlas Copco has initiated an ongoing relationship with SafeStart, an international safety training process that helps employees develop personal safety skills and habits, in and out of the workplace. Mishaps can occur anywhere, at anytime. And being vigilant for potential hazards is the first step in taking an active approach to creating a more successful workplace.

Safe employees are happier, more productive and as a whole, make an organization stronger, more cohesive and competitive. Atlas Copco’s executive management team conducted a thorough review of safety training programs prior to selecting SafeStart. SafeStart has a proven track record and works with more than 2,500 companies and 8,000 worksites across the globe; its partners have reported consistent reductions in injuries ranging from 30 to 70 percent in as little as six months.

Consider these statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly known as OSHA:

  • 4,679 workers were killed on the job in 2014 – That’s 3.3 per 100,000 workers or nearly 90 workers a week.
  • Contractors were involved in 17 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2014.
  • Since 1970, OSHA, through its efforts with in-state partners, safety professionals, unions and advocates, has helped reduce workplace fatalities by more than 66 percent and has lowered occupational injury and illness rate by 67 percent.
  • Worker deaths have dropped, on average, from 38 deaths a day in 1970 to 13 a day in 2014; During the same time, worker injury and illness are down from nearly 11 incidents per 100 workers to about three per 100 today.

The Atlas Copco management team has completed the training program, which began for employees in January 2016. Training sessions are as educational as they are enjoyable, with a mix of humor, group discussions and common-sense principles applied to real-world examples and scenarios. Atlas Copco employees, who have already attended the training sessions, can apply SafeStart values and philosophies to company-specific applications.

Atlas Copco’s partnership with SafeStart is an extension of the belief that there is a strong relationship between safety, quality and competitiveness. Additionally, this new safety initiative demonstrates the company’s commitment to its employees and their families beyond the walls of the workplace; SafeStart includes a number of plans that will improve safety at home.