52 I Jotun Group Report 2020 Employees and the workplace / Safety
Fast-moving industrial environments pose threats to people,
property and the world around them. But with a structured,
comprehensive approach to facilitating the very highest
safety standards, Jotun strives to mitigate and eradicate
risk – identifying issues, recording incidents, implementing
improvements, and sharing knowledge.
2020 saw continued campaigns to reduce lost time injury rate
(LTI), fire risk, enhance awareness and address other areas
of concern. This focus on safety further strengthens Jotun’s
commitment to United Nations Sustainability Goal Number 8,
which calls on companies to ‘promote safe and secure working
environments of all workers’, among other provisions.
TARGETING ROOT CAUSE
Creating knowledge of risk and optimising routines is
effective in driving better safety standards, but for longterm,
sustainable results, the focus must be on eradicating
risks altogether.
In 2020, Jotun initiated a project to assess critical safety
machinery installations and reduce injuries. This involved
close collaboration between the HSEQ, Operations and
Maintenance functions to map all factory equipment and
identify safety critical mechanisms, such as interlocking
systems and safety barriers. The objective was to ensure these
are effective, fully operational and always well-maintained.
As such, this marks a step change in standards – with a drive
to eliminate potential risk rather than merely improving staff
routines to manage avoidable risks. In addition, the campaign
to highlight potential risk within the ‘man-machine’ interface
continued throughout 2020. It will now be the subject of the
mandatory ‘I Care’ activity in 2021.
SAFETY IN PROJECTS
2020 saw the full implementation of the Safety in Projects
element within Jotun’s HSEQ Management System.
This dedicated area of responsibility was conceived to tackle
the risks inherent within construction projects, e.g. falls,
electric shocks, and injuries from vehicles. It creates a wellstructured,
uniform approach across locations, with clear
requirements for contactors, consultants and construction
workers.
2020 marked the first system verification audits with
activity in the Vietnam Greenfield factory project in June/
July and the Dubai Regional R&D centre in September.
Local teams conducted the audits with digital support and
streaming, linking those on the ground and head office.
Further verification audits will take place in 2021 related to
construction projects in Qatar, Egypt, Dubai, Bangladesh and
Ethiopia.
COMBATTING FIRE
Addressing the risk of fire is crucial to ensuring safe
operations at Jotun, with particular focus on resolving the
potential for electrical ignition.
A wide range of activities were initiated in 2020 to safeguard
against fire, including:
• A project to assess and reduce fire risk related to electrical
installation and machinery, conducted in collaboration with
the Maintenance and Process functions
• Task Management implementation, with particular
emphasis on the follow up of issues arising from electrical
safety walks, thermographic surveys, electrical surveys and
fire risk assessments
Prioritising protection
Maintaining optimal safety in a dynamic, geographically diverse industrial environment is a
challenge. Jotun is committed to continually improving its systems and procedures to protect its
employees, the environment, and all business stakeholders.