In all we do, our first priority must be the health and safety of our workforce. Our focus on safety practices has helped Timken to achieve a 68 percent reduction in lost-time accidents over the past five years. This means we successfully avoided the potential for as many as 1,200 accidents according to widely accepted safety measurements. However, the fact that we had more than 100 lost-time accidents including two tragic fatalities reminds us we must never stop our effort to improve.
Our commitment to safety begins at the top and extends throughout the organization, challenging every Timken associate to continuously improve our safety culture and strive for zero injuries and lost-time accidents. At the end of the day, every Timken associate should return home safely from the job. Any injury occurrence is unacceptable.
Our leadership team is accountable for Timken’s overall health and safety system and ensures compliance with our corporate-wide Health and Safety Policy. In 2008, Timken established a safety leadership council to further institutionalize our health and safety practices and drive our safety culture and performance to leadership levels.
Every Timken plant is required to follow an effective health and safety management system. Accident Prevention Plans form the foundation of this system and include six core elements:
1. Management leadership and associate participation
2. Workplace hazard analysis
3. Accident investigation and data analysis
4. Hazard prevention and control
5. Emergency response
6. Safety and health training