Fewer occupational accidents and sick days at NCC

According to new statistics from NCC in Sweden, occupational accidents and sickness absence continued to decrease during 2004. The favorable trend for occupational accidents was mainly attributable to proactive work-environment efforts.

In total, 8.1 accidents were reported for every million hours worked in 2004, a substantial improvement compared with 2003, when 8.9 accidents were reported per million hours worked. The rate of occupational accidents has been halved in the past ten years. Fall accidents dominate the statistics, accounting for more than every third accident. Other causes include falling objects, vehicle-related accidents and contact with hot/cold substances. “NCC has ten work-environment engineers who have worked systematically at construction sites for many years to minimize the number of accidents. The results of our efforts are slowly also becoming visible in statistics,” says Carina Vestrin, Work Environment Engineer at NCC. Rewarded safety efforts On November 22, 2004, NCC received the European Good Practice Awards in Safety and Health at Work from the European Work Environment Agency. The awards ceremony was held in Bilbao, Spain, at a summit meeting focusing on safety in the construction and civil engineering industry. NCC was granted the award for its contribution called “Tysta boken” (The Silent Book). The Silent Book has been used successfully at NCC’s construction sites since 2001, in order to prevent risks arising in construction operations. Using cartoons, the book illustrates the safety and order regulations that apply at construction sites. Thanks to its simple layout, completely without words, the same handbook can be used in all of the countries where NCC is active. NCC, which was the first Swedish company to win the award, competed with 21 other entrants. Lower sickness absence Sickness absence is also continuing to decrease. NCC’s sickness absence averaged 4.5 percent of annual working hours. In the preceding year, the rate of sickness absence was 4.6 percent. For further information, please contact: Ulf Thorné, Press Relations Manager, NCC Group, +46 8 585 523 46, +46 70 214 77 27 Carina Vestrin, Work Environment Engineer. NCC Construction Sweden, +46 8 585 517 97