“We Make Steel Safely”

Health and Safety are core values of Severstal North America and form the basis for our long-term success and industry leadership.

Ultimately, we are committed to the philosophy that says: “No work shall be  started if it cannot be performed safely.”  The well-being of our employees is of prime consideration in the operation of our business. Safe work is a mandatory condition of employment in our company.

As a corporation, we achieved OSHA’s 18001 2007 multi-site safety certification, but that was just the beginning. 

Over the last few years, we have achieved a reduction in overall injuries at  our facilities.  In fact, our Dearborn facility obtained a 20% reduction in OSHA recordable cases from 2009 to 2010.  

Key to our efforts is an ongoing initiative to standardize our safety program across our North American facilities.  Elements of this program include:

• Publishing “Safety and Health Rules,” a comprehensive, pocket-sized manual that establishes clear expectations and goals and was distributed to every employee.
• Training employees so that they have a firm understanding of the safety rules and regulations.
• Implementing a singular incident and injury tracking system to share information and encourage continuous improvement.

“We have also developed a team of highly skilled electricians, mechanics and  millwrights whose time is dedicated solely to the identification and  elimination of worksite hazards,” says Jack Skidmore, Director of Safety. “This speaks to the significance of and urgency with which Severstal approaches this  subject.”

We believe that each of us is responsible for helping achieve this goal and we tolerate no behaviors or processes that endanger our employees.

At Severstal, we charge our managers with demonstrating proper safety and  environmental behavior through their personal example and supporting and  encouraging safe behaviors by employees and contractors. They must take into consideration the possible risks and requirements related to health, safety and the environment when making management decisions.

And we challenge our employees to take ownership of their own safety and  that of their coworkers by following all rules and regulations, putting an  immediate stop to any unsafe or unhealthy actions and notifying management immediately if an infraction or unsafe practice is noticed.

In addition, Severstal Dearborn insists that all Contractor employees onsite in our facilities successfully complete a 10−hour OSHA course and/or the MUST program, an 18−module safety training course.

“It is the intent of our company to comply with all health and safety laws  and other requirements, and we maintain programs that conform to the best practices of our industry while always staying focused on continuous improvement,” says Mel Baggett, Vice President of Human Resources.