Working environment and occupational safety
The area became of particular priority in 2021, when we established the goal of achieving a working environment free of work accidents and allocated the necessary resources for it. The years have shown that a safe working environment can be achieved by changing the work culture and that takes time.
In 2023, we paid particular attention to improving the working environment and work safety policy in order to ensure the maximum protection and wellbeing of our employees. We took important steps by approving uniform principles in our safety policy. These principles include a preventive approach, which means increasing the employees’ awareness and constant learning. We have determined that every accident or incident is also an opportunity to learn and improve systems, which helps us to avoid the recurrence of similar situations in the future. In order to improve our efficiency in responding to incidents, we have harmonised the principles of investigating incidents. This approach means that all the incidents are handled consistently and thoroughly, focusing not only on the symptoms, but also on the root causes.
The number of work accidents registered in 2021–2023
Regardless of our efforts, the number of work accidents in the Group has remained the same in recent years. At the same time, there have been developments which allow us to expect a decrease in the number of work accidents in the coming years. VKG has adopted the strategic approach of encouraging the employees to more actively report all the incidents and happenings at the workplace. Our aim is to create a culture where even the smallest traumas and breaches of safety requirements are highlighted and investigated. In 2023, the number of work accidents with a loss ability for work grew by more than 25% compared to the previous year. However, when we analyse the level of severity of the work accidents, the majority of work accidents in 2023 were rather of a non-severe nature.
The number of dangerous situations (including near-miss incidents) registered in 2021–2023
Constant work towards improving the working environment and work safety continues in 2024.
The focus is on the following objectives:
- improving the quality of investigating the incidents;
- harmonising the working environment control principles;
- increasing the employees’ awareness in the area of safety.