U.K. Containerboard Industry Improves Health and Safety Performance
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The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), U.K., this week reported three years of significant achievements in improving health and safety performance in the U.K. corrugated, papermaking, and recovered paper industries. Launched on July 15, 2008, a new health and safety strategy for the paper industry was developed by The Paper and Board Industry Advisory Committee (PABIAC), a tripartite strategic health and safety delivery partnership comprising HSE, employers and Trade Unions, according to CPI.
The strategy set a target of a 10% year-on-year reduction in accident rates for the paper industry. At the end of March 2011, this target was exceeded, with a year-on-year reduction of 10.5%. Overall, the industry reduced the number of accidents from 1,257 per 100,000 employees in 2008 to 885 per 100,000 employees in 2011, CPI reports.
Within the corrugated sector, a targeted initiative to reduce the number of injuries resulting from machinery interventions has resulted in the rate falling to 126 per 100,000 in 2011 from 465 per 100,000 in 2008; an impressive 73% reduction.
In 2010, the number of employees injured in the papermaking sector was at its lowest since records began in 1992.There were 97 RIDDOR2 injuries compared with 841 in 1992.
Within the industry's injury rate reduction, the recovered paper sector, which includes members of the Recycling Association, reduced its injury rate to 466 per 100,000 in 2011 compared with 1,088 per 100,000 in 2008. "This was an outstanding achievement in a very short period and one that bucks the industry trend in the waste and recycling sector. The strategic leadership of PABIAC has undoubtedly been a significant factor in these improvements, with commitment from 31 senior managers voluntarily signing the PABIAC pledge," CIP notes.
In addition to the reduction in injury rates, there has been a more than threefold increase in the number of sites that have benchmarked their health and safety management performance and undertaken and acted upon the results of employee health and safety climate surveys, CPI adds.
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