Safety remains a top priority for the Group’s management and employees. Continuously and durably improving the health and safety in the workplace of its employees and subcontractors is one of Air Liquide’s major challenges, in each region, in each entity.
Air Liquide’s employees lost-time accident frequency rate was 1.3 at the end of 2018, a 20% improvement compared to 2017. This is the lowest frequency rate the Group has achieved in 20 years.
These results include the safety performance of newly-acquired companies, in particular Airgas and Home Healthcare subsidiaries such as Oxymaster in Colombia.
All Group employees have the ability and duty to ensure their safety and that of their colleagues. Being aware of dangers and risks, applying the rules and taking care of others – all this contributes to reducing the risk of accidents and strengthening Air Liquide’s safety culture.
This includes, in particular, safety leadership training and regular workstation-based training courses. Air Liquide’s managers encourage safety efforts, by demonstrating their commitment on-site and awarding good practices.
Sharing know-how between the various Group subsidiaries.
Feedback to facilitate learning, awareness-raising, the promotion of a safety culture and to improve prevention.
In 2018 a project was launched to adapt the IMS in order to simplify the protocol, clarify roles and responsibilities and strengthen the governance. This modernization will also go along with new tools, some of them digital, that will be made available to the operating entities.