The recent history of the struggle for safe working conditions in metallurgy began in 1981, when the first international safety instructions for the iron and steel industry were adopted. Since then, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has been scrutinizing issues related to improving the protection of workers and employees in the steel industry.
In memory of metallurgists who died from occupational diseases and injuries at work, the ILO has developed quite complete safety instructions, which, according to the experts of this organization, will help prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Constantly improving equipment, the use of new technologies for the production of iron and steel make the safety services of ferrous metallurgy enterprises constantly make changes and adjustments to working instructions and rules.
Responsibilities of managers
The main operations carried out at metallurgical plants are associated with a huge number of dangerous factors, they contain dangerous and harmful working conditions at work and can lead to incidents that will injure or kill people. In this regard, the ILO recommends that the leaders of working groups and divisions be required to regularly check:
- compliance with safety regulations;
- maintaining safe working practices;
- maintenance of machinery and equipment, especially any apparatus installed for safety purposes;
- availability of trainings on the use and maintenance of personal protective equipment (PPE);
- competence of managers, supervisors and employees in the performance of their duties.
Staff responsibilities
A worker performing any production operations at a metallurgical plant must:
- comply with established safety measures;
- do their utmost to eliminate or control hazards or threats to themselves and others in iron and steel production, including by ensuring proper care and use of the clothing, equipment and equipment provided to them for this purpose;
- immediately inform their immediate supervisor or safety representative of any workplace conditions arising in the iron and steel industry, or circumstances regarding equipment that they believe may pose a danger to themselves or others if they cannot effectively deal with these problems yourself;
- cooperate with the employer and their workmates to ensure that the obligations imposed on the employer and employees are respected.
Obligations of the employer
Each specific enterprise can develop its own safety instructions, in which the employer must ensure the identification and periodic assessment of hazards and risks for workers.
It is necessary to control that all safety issues in the production of iron and steel, as well as operating instructions for steel plants and rolling mechanisms, include provisions and recommendations on safety, along with requirements for quality, labor productivity, environmental and other aspects of production activities.
