Safety and environment: absolute priority

Concern for safety and the environment has always been extremely vivid in our company. These matters are so deeply rooted in the philosophy of our company that they have become part of the working culture of all our employees, thanks – among other things – to targeted training and regular safety meetings.

The location of our industrial site gives us one more than one reason to be especially committed to environmental protection. The plant covering 1.500.000 sq.m. is situated between the town and the surrounding hills: this area is typically urban, a mixture of residential and commercial buildings with a high population density.

Its nearness to the town has always conditioned our company's history and its management has naturally been inspired by environmental self-regulation principles, often earlier and more restrictively than what required by local and national rules.

In March 2010 the company was awarded the "Integrated Environmental Permit" by the Umbria Regional Administration. More than an important achievement, this has been a dramatic step forward in the fulfilment of environmental obligations and has required the preparation of special technical and organizational procedures and the installation of appropriate continuous monitoring and sampling systems, such as the one for atmospheric emissions and wastewater discharges.

Plant improvements have recently given rise to the installation of a more efficient system for the collection and reduction of electric-arc furnace emissions. Developed in 2009, this system has doubled the treatment capacity of the so-called "secondary emissions" (i.e. those arising from feeding, slagging and tapping operations).

Amongst the measures for environmental impact reduction, the studies and projects concerning the re-use of steel melting slag as building material are worth mentioning.

The same amount of attention is addressed to employees' safety and health. In the last few years, our company has carried out several safety-focused initiatives, with special emphasis on accident prevention and improvement of working conditions.

In addition to all the activities aimed to the fulfilment of occupational safety and health obligations, a special mention goes to the second edition of the "Protocol for the planning of occupational safety and health interventions at the Terni works of ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni and its subsidiaries" signed by the company, local authorities (Prefect, Umbria Region, Terni Province, Terni Municipality), inspection bodies (ASL, VVF, ARPA, DPL, INAIL) and unions at Terni Prefect's office on April 8th 2010, a perfect continuation of the positive experience of the first edition of the Safety Protocol signed in February 2008.

The second edition of the Safety Protocol places special emphasis on contractors' safety obligations and it makes more stringent the monitoring of contractors' selection (based on technical, professional and administrative requirements) and work execution abilities. In this respect, it is particularly important that contractors' employees can attend special safety courses at the company's Training School.

Finally, the new edition of the Safety Protocol restates the primary role of the NOI (Integrated Operating Service), a team composed of safety specialists selected by national and local authorities, with the aim of providing support and guidance on specific safety issues.

The most important result of ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni's effort for safety is a steady decrease in injury rates in the last few years. This achievement is due to continuous commitment by all company functions to prevention and correction from a technical and organizational point of view, following a detailed analysis of accidents, injuries and near misses.