Issues: Well-being
Stakeholders: Employees, Suppliers
Region: South America
Novelis South America’s Pinda facility is a Novelis forerunner in safety initiatives, incorporating methods such as Behavioral Based Safety techniques to improve workplace safety. But with minor accidents still occurring despite various initiatives, the plant selected an internal review team and turned to a proven Japanese improvement technique for help. The technique is Kaizen, a Japanese method that involves taking a process or piece of equipment apart and making it better. For Pinda, “better” would mean “safer.”
Kaizen involves a four-step process designed to improve a machine and its operating processes to eliminate the risk of injury. First, the team develops a hazard assessment of the equipment. In the next step, known as “housekeeping,” it determines a specific place for everything involved with the machine (tools, signs, etc.). Then it places clear, color-coded safety signs on the equipment, following a standard that all operators understand. Last, the team conducts inspections and examinations to ensure employees are following the new safety procedures.
Teamwork is critical to success. Everything the group proposes to change as a result of the Kaizen process is first discussed with the operators. But the goal is clear – making the machine 100% safe.
Today, Pinda is using the Kaizen process on its seventh machine and is well on its way to making every machine in the plant safer for all operators. Due to their ongoing efforts and dedication to process improvement, the Pinda plant won the 2006 Top Gold Award for health, workplace safety and environmental management from the Brazilian Safety Agency (ABS) for the second consecutive year. Novelis is the only company to have received the Top Gold Award since the program began in 1998.
