UC RUSAL’s Severouralsk bauxite mine (SUBR) keeps working on the Safe Mine project targeted at promoting the corporate culture of safe working mode and the principles of industrial security in mining business, UC RUSAL’s press officer in the Urals Roman Lukichev said to UrBC.

The pilot version of Safe Mine project was launched at Kalinskaya mine in December 2007. The project provides for audio reminders that accompany workers on their way to work and as they go down the mine. The reminders consist of the following phrases:

‘Good morning! Dear miners, please follow the industrial safety rules. Please remember that you are waited for safe and sound at home.’

‘Remember to use the personal protective gear; your health depends on this.’

‘Dear miners, please follow the labor protection requirements while at work.’

In addition, 240,000 RUR is spent each month to enhance the workers’ motivation to follow the labor safety regulations.

‘All the three shifts of workers are involved in this project, and each employee is acquainted with the assessment system. We’ve introduced some special control registers for each team and a person responsible for the elimination of problems before the shift starts. Financial incentives have a great part to play in safe labor,’ says SUBR’s Deputy Head Andrei Kolesnikov.

‘Labor protection and accident prevention are SUBR’s top priorities. After the enterprise joined UC RUSAL, we stick to the principle that no work can begin unless it is safe. This means our employees cannot start work before their safety is ensured,’ SUBR CEO Viktor Radko reports.

Thanks to the company’s man-caused accident prevention measures, the number of accidents went down by 38% in 2007 compared with 2006. In January-July 2008, the number of accidents dropped by 50% compared with a year earlier. Most of these cases did not lead to a long-term incapacitation that would last for over twenty days.