Sustainability Report 2021
Health and safety at work
PSC companies take steps to ensure that both employees and collaborators, either belonging to the company or subcontractors, follow the accident prevention regulations, as well as hygiene and health protection in the workplace.
In order to ensure the physical integrity of employees and collaborators, various initiatives are put in place to consolidate and disseminate the culture of safety, stimulating awareness of risks and promoting responsible behavior by all.
All employees in Italy have contracts that adhere to the two different types of CCNL (National Collective Labor Agreements):
- Rubber and plastic
- Metal working
RISKS ASSESSMENT
All Italian plants comply with Legislative Decree 81/08 by filling out the DVR form (Risk Assessment Document), general and for specific risks. In this respect, hierarchical principles for risk assessment and prevention shall be followed as shown below:
- Elimination of risk at source
- Replacement of what is dangerous with what is safer or less risky
- Development of large technical systems for risks protection
- Establishment of procedure and work instructions
- Spread of safety signs
- Personal safety protection devices (DPI) development
The employer, with the support of RSPP and a competent doctor, of RSL, as well as managers and supervisors, shall be responsible for the operational process. The results of the risk assessment procedure will be useful in developing improvement measures, included in the Business Improvement Plan, to be applied on a regular basis.
Italian workers can report any perceived risk anonymously, in order to avoid negative consequences, by using RSL mediation, which will inform the employer. Every worker, without being affected negatively, will be free to refuse to carry on activities if considered risky, in case this is not managed by the prevention and protection system.
Similar risk assessment processes are put in place in premises abroad, which monitor them periodically.
The risks deriving from the interference of the activities are, where appropriate, managed in the Italian plants through the drafting of the Single Document for the Evaluation of Interfering Risks (DUVRI - Documento Unico di Valutazione dei Rischi Interferenti).
Also in PSMM Pernambuco plant there are procedures designed to assess the risks of interference; in particular, suppliers who carry out activities in PSC are required to assess the risk of these activities at the time of taking on the assignment and thereafter on a periodic basis.
All PSC plants in Italy have workers’ safety representatives, for the minimum legal requirements, according to the provisions by Legislative Decree Law 81/08.
However, for the premises abroad, a specific legislation in force will be applied.
In Sole Wörth plant, an external company provides to draft a report regarding daily activities on a monthly basis, in order to refer all this to the business management.
In Proprad plant, risk assessment is carried out by an external firm. Quality manager is responsible for the company and its external consultants. Likewise, factory workers who perceive risky situations shall inform their supervisors.
In the plants of Sosnowiec CPS and APT, ISO 45001 management system is active, covering all activities, workers and workplaces. Workplace health and safety management is entrusted to an interdisciplinary group, which carries out a risk assessment, by giving priority to the identification and elimination of the most serious potential ones. The quality of this process shall be regularly checked during safety audits. If the implemented measures give positive results, they shall be extended to other activities or departments, where possible.
Workers are encouraged to report problematic situations, in accordance with the principle of prevention, by using the appropriate safety cards (S-Tags) available in the workplace. One more time, the law protects the possibility of workers to refuse any work activity that puts their health or safety at risk.
For Sole Hörgertshausen plant, the risk assessment is carried out with the support of an external consultancy. In addition, meetings are held periodically with the RSPP in which all possible risk and danger situations are analyzed, and interventions are identified to minimize them. Employees may also communicate any security risk anonymously via a dedicated e-mail address.
RISK ASSESSMENT IN PSC DO BRAZIL BUSINESS UNIT
In PSC do Brazil plants, risk identification and risk assessment is elaborated and managed by the “health and safety” function with the participation of area employees and/or their representatives, and is set to identify all possible dangers associated with the activities of the company, evaluating them according to the parameters of Severity and Probability. The risk assessment and prevention process follows the hierarchical principles adopted in the Italian plants. If during the assessment it appears that the measures taken are not adequate to classify the risk as “acceptable” or “moderate”, further action shall be taken to minimise the risk. The effectiveness of each action is checked from thirty to ninety days after the actual implementation, after which the risk is further assessed. In the factory there are formal committees that deal with occupational safety and health and that represent the employees of the company, such as:
CIPA – Internal Commission on the prevention of accidents at work.
COERGO – Ergonomics Committee, which assesses the ergonomic improvement needs of the various sectors.
Workers can report risk situations by filling in a special form, analyzed by the security departments of PSMM Pernambuco and PSC Automotivos that, in collaboration with the area managers, implement the actions deemed appropriate.
Workers can also report risk situations to CIPA, which is made up of representatives from all areas of the company, which meets monthly with management and managers of the “health and safety” function. In both cases the workers do not risk any repercussions. Even in the PSMM and PSCA plants, workers can refuse an assignment that is perceived as risky, as required by national law.
PSMM Pernambuco has established a direct communication channel with the FCA-PSA group through which risk situations can be reported. If a particular work activity is identified as hazardous to safety or health, the worker is trained to report it immediately and stop operations until the problem is resolved.
The company applies a formal procedure to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of situations of risk; this requires that the root causes, actions and unsafe conditions that led to an accident are brought to light, and indicate and develop the countermeasures necessary to avoid similar events. Such countermeasures are monitored weekly by the “Safety” department, along with those responsible for their actions.
PROMOTING HEALTH
In all the Italian PSC plants a Competent Doctor is appointed who carries out the provisions of Legislative Decree 81/08 and to whom all workers can contact according to the agreements in force. Each year this professional draws up the health surveillance plan in relation to the risks identified for each individual task, plans periodic and preventive medical examinations, carries out the on-site inspection in the workplace and participates in the periodic security meeting, as well as in the drafting of the DVR. Also in foreign plants is involved the figure of the competent doctor in the activities that aim to identify, evaluate and manage risks.
All PSC workers receive appropriate health and safety training in accordance with the legal provisions of the countries in which the establishments are located.
In some of the Group’s establishments, initiatives have been launched to promote the health of workers, including campaigns against smoking, healthy eating, the promotion of outdoor activities and flu vaccinations. In addition, many establishments have formalized agreements with local sports facilities.
HAZARDS AND ACCIDENTS
Shocks, cuts, investments and crushing: these are the main dangers identified by PC Anagni and PC Ferentino. In order to eliminate or minimize such hazards and risks, the establishments have undertaken the actions foreseen by the DVR improvement plan, formalising precise working procedures that also include the use of appropriate PPE and appropriate training and awareness-raising of staff on the subject.
The most risky activity identified by the sites of the Sole Components business unit and the Gricignano d’Aversa plant following its evaluation process is the circulation of forklifts. In order to minimise the risk, training, information and training were provided to sensitise the trolley drivers and both internal and external traffic was improved. For the Sole Hörgertshausen plant, the risk of hand cuts in the use of machinery has been identified as significant: In order to avoid this, specific training has been carried out and regular maintenance of the machinery is guaranteed, along with adequate lighting during the operation.
The risk assessment at the Prima Eastern plant revealed that there was a danger of falling inside the press during mould change. To eliminate this eventuality, the access platforms were anchored to the presses by means of bolts and special non-slip rubber mats were installed, as required by the DVR improvement plan.
For Prima Sosnowiec APT plant, activities involving the use of extruders and those related to fire risk have been evaluated as hazardous. For the reduction of the risks, interventions have been implemented both from a technical and organizational point of view. At the sites of the Prima Components Europe business unit, the risk of crushing has been identified as significant, in order to minimise the risk of which operational procedures and safety audits have been updated.
In PSMM Pernambuco and PSCA Automotivos plants, the activities for setting up new machinery, to be carried out at considerable heights, are classified as dangerous; in this case the risks of falling are significant, reduced thanks to the development of specific platforms. In Pernambuco there was also a modification to the machinery in order to eliminate the activity at dangerous heights.
The distribution of accidents that occurred in 2021 in the Group’s companies is shown in the tables below.
*Recordable incident rate: n° recordable injuries/ hours worked*1.000.000
**Serious incident rate: n° injuries/ hours worked*1.000.000
***Fatal incident rate: n° of incidents/ hours worked*1.000.000
*Recordable incident rate: n° recordable injuries/ hours worked*1.000.000
**Serious incident rate: n° injuries/ hours worked*1.000.000
***Fatal incident rate: n° of incidents/ hours worked*1.000.000
In all Group sites, events such as injuries, accidents and similar incidents are managed by providing an accurate assessment of possible causes, so to set up initiatives to be applied with the purpose of avoiding repetition. The types of injuries recorded in 2021 in the Group were: trauma to the joints and from stumbling, cuts, bruises, crushing, burns, falls and accidents on the way home-to-work.
KPI of monitoring of Group Performance: incidents
In 2021, the ratio between the number of injuries and hours worked in the entire Group compared to the previous year increased slightly. This figure was calculated using data relating to both employees and temporary workers. However, the figure is lower than in 2019, suggesting the absence of a negative trend.