Ambition
The health and safety of the people who work at or visit the Arla Foods Ingredients sites is a top priority. Our target is zero work accidents and a working environment that empowers, engages and never compromises the physical or mental health of any colleague.
Priority actions
The small rise in accident frequency during 2022 highlights the importance of a sustained focus on behavioural safety as we expand our workforce to support business growth.
Our fully owned sites Danmark Protein, ARINCO and AFISA are working towards level 3 of the Arla Cornerstones behavioural safety programme, which they are expected to reach in 2023.
In addition to embedding a zero-loss culture, level 3 requires demonstration of Visual Felt Leadership (VFL). An increase in the number of risk observations reflects the focus on internalising the behavioural safety mindset. All colleagues are required to identify and report four risks a year.
MVI is now following the behavioural safety plans for the Arla Taw Valley dairy, where it is located. The site has previouly achieved Cornerstones level 3.
ArNoCo will continue implementing the TIGER behavioural safety programme of our joint venture partner, DMK, which began at the site in 2022.
Progress
Workplace accidents
Our behavioural safety programme Cornerstones has contributed to a steady decline in accident frequency (number of lost-time accidents per million working hours) since we began implementation at our sites in 2017.
In 2022, however, the downward trend did not continue, as both Danmark Protein and ARINCO experienced an increase in lost-time accidents.
Accident frequency consequently rose from 1.8 in 2021 to 2.8 in 2022, with a total of six lost-time accidents across sites. Although this is not a desirable outcome, the accident frequency rate remains relatively low and still significantly improved compared to 2017, when the rate was above 10.
AFISA and MVI recorded zero lost-time accidents for the fifth and sixth consecutive year, respectively.
Near miss/accident ratio
Our near miss/accident ratio (number of near miss and risk observations per accident) is a leading indicator of our proactive approach to improving safety in the workplace.
The purpose of the indicator is to increase our focus on observing and removing unsafe conditions, actions and behaviours and, ultimately, to reduce the number of workplace accidents overall.
In 2022, our near miss/accident ratio was 76:1 – well above our target of 40:1. We have set the same target for 2023.
Impact
On society
There are many risks to health and safety in a company like ours that operates large processing plants and relies on transportation of raw materials and finished products. Our licence to operate is dependent on our ability to minimise those risks and provide healthy and safe working conditions.
On Arla Foods Ingredients
Every health and safety incident in or around our sites threatens our ability to attract competent colleagues and represents a business risk in terms of lost efficiency and profitability and reputational damage.
On Sustainable Development Goals
