Cemex USA kicked off the New Year by demonstrating its ongoing commitment to workplace safety and employee health with Safety Week 2018, an annual company-wide initiative designed to promote the company’s goal of achieving Zero4Life at its facilities across the United States.
Operations at all Cemex USA plants and facilities stopped for 60 to 90 minutes on Jan. 2, so employees could participate in safety stand downs, meetings intended to help workers refocus and recommit to doing tasks safely each day.
“Safety is something that is embedded in everything we do at Cemex,” Cemex USA President Ignacio Madridejos said. “We want to achieve zero recordable injuries, job-related illnesses, preventable vehicle accidents and environmental events – Zero4Life. Safety Week encourages everyone to be involved and take action to make our work environments safer.”
During this year’s safety stand downs, Cemex employees learned about the LIFE cycle of Action-Based Safety that encourages workers to Learn, Identify, Fix and Engage, when it comes to safety. Employees use their personal experiences and experiences of others to learn about potential safety hazards. Then, they identify potential hazards in their work areas and fix those hazards to protects themselves and others. Lastly, under the program, employees engage others by sharing their experiences.
“Action-Based Safety helps reinforce Cemex’s Health & Safety Management System, and the LIFE cycle helps build on that,” said Guillermo Martinez-Sans, Cemex USA’s executive vice president, human resources and communications. “It encourages all our employees to be more proactive and keep an active safety dialogue so we can make sure workers at our facilities go home safe.”
Thousands of Cemex USA employees were also given special Take 5 Hazard Assessment booklets to get them to stop, think and act, when approaching job sites. The booklets provide a list of possible hazards including fall risks, traffic concerns and environmental threats, as a reminder to pay extra attention to safety.
“Employees need to analyze every location to make sure they stay safe,” explained Alan MacVicar, Cemex USA’s vice president of health & safety. “By doing these hazard assessments, potential safety risks can be quickly identified and fixed,” he concluded.
