Occupational Health and Safety

Low accident figures
Prevention is the best form of protection from injuries and job-related health risks. Our extraordinarily low accident rates demonstrate that we are on the right track with our occupational health and safety initiatives and training measures at all plants.

One major factor in this process is our internal reporting systems to reduce risk. The combination of risk assessments conducted through an occupational safety management system, employee responsibility, and an improvement process that incorporates everyone involved has enabled the company to identify and eliminate many potential hazards.

All around the world, tesa is subject to our Occupational Safety Guidelines, which are aligned to the international OHSAS 18001 standard. In terms of safety, we regularly raise employee awareness of the issue worldwide – including through training on conduct that is conducive to safety and health, prevention of explosions and fires, fire extinguishing drills, detailed operating procedures for all production facilities, and targeted employee training. This approach has ensured a steady decline in the number of occupational accidents subject to mandatory reporting. Across all international tesa locations, the number fell from 20 in the previous year to 16 in 2010, an average decrease of 20 percent overall.

At tesa, the systematic identification and risk assessment of potential hazards form the cornerstone of our ability to preclude faults, mistakes, and improper conduct wherever possible. To this end, in 2010 we were able to further develop our risk assessment and elimination system in line with the TOP principle. This analytical tool, which covers three categories – “technical”, “organizational”, and “personal” – is used to assess potential hazards and facilitates the evaluation and prioritization of potential solutions.

We also consistently advanced our high standards in terms of occupational health and safety initiatives during the project planning of new systems and facilities. The early identification of possible danger areas was the focus. The aim was to take the correct precautionary measures in advance. In 2010, this principle was successfully put into practice in India, where the new tesa Converting Center was opened in the seaport city of Chennai. To prevent potential accidents, the topic of occupational health and safety played a crucial role from the start, even during the planning and construction phase.