BC Rao, vice president of rock tool production, feels a personal sense of pride every year when he raises a special flag at Sandvik’s Patancheru production unit in a suburb of the south Indian city of Hyderabad.
The ritual kicks off the plant’s celebration of India’s National Safety Week, an annual event that aims to reduce industrial accidents and boost occupational health and safety awareness across mining and many other sectors.
“Safety is the primary focus of our business,” says Rao, who oversees a unit manufacturing Rotary, TH and DTH products and other tools used in the mining applications. “Concern for individuals and the environment is a fundamental consideration in our operations, and National Safety Week reminds us of that.”

Sandvik’s comprehensive internal safety awareness directly benefits the miners who rely on the tools and equipment.
“Miners know that when they buy a product from Sandvik it comes with our proven safety knowledge,” Rao says. “No matter what we manufacture, we design it to be used safely. We manufacture it safely, and we also ensure that it is packed in a safe condition for customers to operate it and use it for the life cycle of the product. A safe, healthy working environment is a better working environment, and it leads to higher productivity and better products for miners.”

Sandvik’s commitment to miner safety doesn’t end when a product is delivered, either.
“Our product line management and employees from our organization train our sales and service teams in demonstrating safe use of our products during customer visits,” Rao says. “We walk them through it. The customer sees our dedication to safety firsthand. Our motto is safety first, both in our own organization and everywhere our products are in use.”

In the Patancheru plant, Rao’s unit always ensures safety by focusing on several specific areas. Smoking is confined to a designated area. Due to some contract workers in a few support areas, every shift begins with a five-minute safety discussion.

“We always spend extra time during the contractor selection process, too, to observe their safety commitment,” Rao says. “If somebody is doing a welding job, we ensure that he will be wearing his safety goggles.”
Every visitor is welcomed to the Patancheru plant with a safety briefing, an opportunity that Rao and his colleagues use to discuss their safety track record and identify the location of emergency exits.
India’s National Safety Week reinforces many of the Environment, Health and Safety messages contained in Sandvik’s Code of Conduct.
“We’re all extremely proud, because even top management are first to talk about safety,” Rao says. “They put safety ahead of production numbers, and that speaks to our company’s commitment. There’s nothing more valuable than a person’s life.”

Working in and around mines presents a variety of health and safety challenges for Sandvik’s customers, from high temperatures to excessive noise levels, but safety awareness is just as crucial in the environment in which the tools and equipment are manufactured.

“The hazards and risks are different than what miners face, but they are no less dangerous for our employees,” says Rao, who has seen the importance placed on health and safety increase every year since he started at the Patancheru plant in 1993, before Sandvik acquired it in 2004.

During safety week at the Sandvik Patancheru plant, Sandvik employees watch safety videos, compete in a reflection essay contest and make a formal safety pledge. The week also includes product exhibitions, community awareness activities and training programmes on fire extinguisher operation and first aid administration. In a closing session, employees and management invite external experts to discuss health and safety concerns and initiatives to address them.

“We also make sure that any employees working in an area deemed ‘risky’ visit the hospital for a thorough medical checkup, from lung function to eye exams,” Rao says. “We accomplish a lot throughout the week.”

Eric Gourley