Each June, Lafarge North America facilities across the continent and at its sister company sites around the world celebrate Health & Safety Month, renewing the company’s commitment to the health and safety of their employees, contractors, families and local communities with a month’s worth of awareness-raising activities and events. From healthy meals and fitness challenges to educational safety programs and demonstrations, Lafarge employees are immersed in the company’s overarching culture of safety and wellness.
The theme of this year’s Health & Safety Month was transportation and road safety. Mobile equipment poses the largest potential safety risk for employees and contractors at Lafarge plants, and transportation and road safety affects drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike. The Lafarge Group launched a road safety campaign called “Safe Choice Smart Move” about the personal choices everyone can make to prevent transportation-related incidents. A video supporting campaign is available for viewing at the Lafarge Group’s channel on YouTube.
In accordance with this theme, vehicle safety programs were the main event of the month. Defensive driving courses were offered at many Lafarge locations, and employees were encouraged to involve their families, especially children close to the driving age. Among other vehicle safety events, a gypsum plant in Buchanan, N.Y., teamed up with its house freight carrier to host a vehicle safety day specifically for truck drivers. At Lafarge offices in Lee’s Summit, Mo., a NASCAR DUI simulator demonstrated the dangers of driving under the influence; and the Ravena, N.Y., cement plant hosted a road safety event that engaged participants in a variety of exercises, including a distracted driving course and a blind spot exercise.
Also highlighted in June was the company’s focus on improved employee and family health. Kicked off on June 1st was the Lafarge Get Active! program, a 12-week team-based fitness and weight loss competition. Participating team members set weight loss goals and were given pedometers to track their goal of 10,000 steps per day. Prizes will be awarded to the top teams in each of three categories: highest average number of steps, most combined minutes of activity, and highest percentage of combined weight loss.
