2005 Sustainability Report - Lafarge

Assuring our employees' safety
and protecting their health
In terms of safety, the objective of a group such as Lafarge cannot be any other than to achieve zero
accidents. Reflecting our ethics and corporate values, safety is a major pillar of our overall performance.
Prevention efforts made under the Group's Health and Safety Policy entail the implementation of
action plans with the involvement of our entire workforce in order to make this not just one of many
priorities, but one of the key values underpinning the Group.
TO RANK AMONG THE TOP
PERFORMERS IN TERMS OF
SAFETY
Even if there is a general improvement,
the Group's occupational safety results
are not yet good enough. Although the
occupational accident frequency rate
and the number of accidents have
declined steadily, two factors temper
the significance of this performance.
> See indicators on page 30
The safety of our subcontractors needs
to be substantially improved, particularly
in transportation activities. Moreover,
the operations that have attained the
highest levels in this area seem to have
reached a plateau. Finally, the level of
risk remains a cause for concern because
the number of fatal accidents increased
during 2005 even if this increase is partly
due to a greater reporting accuracy from
our subcontractors.
> See table on page 42
We need to inject fresh impetus into our
efforts to improve these results and give
ourselves the means to achieve a zero
fatal accident rate. To this end, several
projects were launched or continued
during 2005.
Lafarge continued to roll out its safety
management system. At year-end 2005,
93% of Lafarge's employees were covered
compared with 88% in 2004.
In China, for example, the implementation
of Lafarge’s health and safety standards
played a genuine role in the performance
improvement; enabling performance
levels that can be compared with those
of our best plants. The NanShan plant,
acquired by Lafarge in 2002, achieved
the Group’s best occupational safety
levels, in only 3 years, through the
implementation of safety management
standards and a modernization of
equipment (frequency rate: 0.95, severity
rate: 0.34).
The Group's medium-term objectives
were redefined with a new deadline of
2008. They include achieving a zero fatal
industrial accident rate at its facilities,
and halving the accident frequency rate
compared with 2005 (frequency rate:
3.87). In the long term, Lafarge wants
to reach a zero fatal accident rate and
an accident frequency rate of less than
1 for its employees and subcontractors.
The Cement business has included in
its Health and Safety Management System
procedures regarding the performance
of its suppliers and contractors. This
‘Contractor H&S Management System’,
which was extended in 2005 to the
purchasing managers of Business Units,
covers safety when the services of
subcontractors are used. It is being rolled
out to all the Group's operations.
Finally, the Group embarked on an
exhaustive survey of safety in September
2005. A total of 90 site audits, 20 Business
Unit audits and close to 300 individual
interviews will be carried out across the
Group by mid-2006. The survey will help
to assess safety awareness within the
Group and to prepare a three-year action
program. This major campaign will be
designed to increase the coherence of
the Group's actions and inject fresh
impetus to achieve our objectives.
At the request of the European Works
Council, a survey was carried out in 2005
on the implementation of occupational
health and safety policies.
> See page 33
ZERO ACCIDENT
OBJECTIVE AT LAFARGE
NORTH AMERICA
Dominique Calabrese,
President of Lafarge North America's Safety
Council, emphasizes the major role played
by managers and the need for habits to change
to achieve the zero accident objective.
Efforts in North America to mobilize
employees on this issue were concentrated
on three levels: requiring the personal
involvement of senior management in safety
matters, mobilizing supervisory staff and
strengthening interpersonal relationships
so that each employee is aware of high-risk
behavior for his/herself and his/her
colleagues. Safety will be fully integrated
into human resource management
procedures during 2006.
Employee in a plasterboard
plant of Lafarge Gypsum
in Germany.
LAFARGE | 2005 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT | PAGE 29