The VELUX Group is well on the way to becoming a world-class safe workplace
The curve of industrial accidents in the VELUX Group is plummeting. Figures for 2010 show that the number of accidents at work among wage-earning staff fell by 20% on the previous year. Now an even more ambitious target has been set
The Group employs 5,500 wage-earning staff at 27 factories around the world and has set the goal of reducing industrial accidents to 1.5 per million working hours by 2014.
The average 2010 figure for the Group's factories was 4.5 accidents per million working hours, an improvement on the 2009 average of 5.6.
"The national average for Danish industry is about 20-25 accidents per million working hours so, by comparison, we are doing really well. Safety at work has been a high priority for many years and we have decided not just to be better than most other companies but to strive to be among the very best," says VELUX Group Director David P. Meyer.
To cut the number of accidents even further, the VELUX Group has launched a two-year project with the American company DuPont, which has specialised in advising other compa-nies on safety. One area of attention is observing safety procedures and precautions. This includes both physical safety (ensuring that equipment and machinery is properly main-tained and adequately safeguarded) and behaviour and conduct at the workplace.
"Being safety conscious is the most important way of preventing accidents – and behaving safely in a potentially dangerous environment can be done. On the other hand, irresponsible behaviour in such an environment can be very dangerous. We believe that all accidents can be prevented."
"Achieving a safe workplace, where safety procedures are a spinal reflex, is a long hard slog. It requires a complete change of thinking and work culture; it needs a continual focus on safety – by management as well as staff – and a watchful eye on ensuring that the exist-ing set of rules and regulations is respected at all times and in every conceivable work situation every single day; and it takes determination. But there are no short cuts," says David P. Meyer.
One third of VELUX factories had no accidents at all in 2010, which is a good indicator that our new ambitious target for 2014 is not unrealistic. On the contrary – it shows that acci-dents can be completely prevented.
About the VELUX Group
The VELUX Group creates better living environments with daylight and fresh air through the roof. The VELUX product programme contains a wide range of roof windows and skylights, along with solutions for flat roofs. The Group also supplies many types of decoration and sun screening, roller shutters, installation products, products for remote control and thermal solar panels for installation in roofs. The VELUX Group, which has manufacturing companies in 11 countries and sales companies in just under 40 countries, represents one of the strongest brands in the global building materials sector and its products are sold in most parts of the world. The VELUX Group has about 10,000 employees and is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by foundations and family. For more details, visit www.velux.com.