Skanska’s week of promoting safety

Skanska Safety Week 2010 begins on Monday September 13 - the sixth consecutive year for what is claimed to be the world's largest workplace safety initiative organised by a company.

At more than 10,000 worksites around the world, construction company Skanska's 49,000 employees and thousands of customers, subcontractors, suppliers and business partners will be involved in activities focused on safety.

Running from September 13 to 19, the objective of the Skanska Safety Week is to increase focus on safety at worksites to prevent accidents.

Johan Karlström, president and CEO of Skanska, said, "It is completely unacceptable that people in our industry risk their lives in performing their daily work. Working safely is everyone's right."

Skanska said that the construction industry was one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work, with some 40% of all fatal accidents in workplaces occurring in this industry.

However, Skanska claimed that experience from its Safety Weeks showed that the number of accidents could be greatly reduced. It said that during last year's Safety Week, accidents that resulted in absence from work in the entire Skanska Group were less than 50% of an average week, with about 20 accidents reported.

During this year's Safety Week, activities will include hundreds of safety visits to worksites by senior Skanska managers, with extensive training programmes for employees, subcontractors and business partners relating to safety.

Skanska said it was taking measures to reduce the number of accidents further. Stringent rules for personal safety equipment at worksites have been introduced, and analyses of safety risks are now mandatory in all construction projects.