Samsung heavy industries attains 2,000 days of no lost time injuries

Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria has announced that it has reached a significant health and safety milestone of 2,000 days with no lost-time injuries (LTI) at its subsidiary SHI-MCI, Africa’s largest ship fabrication and integration yard located in Lagos.

Given the risks associated with shipbuilding, safety has remained the top priority at Samsung Heavy Industries.

Its subsidiary SHI-MCI had in 2019, celebrated 1,200 days with no LTI, and this latest celebration of 2,000 days without LTI would not have been possible if any major injury was inflicted to employees.

According to a statement by the company, it recorded the 2,000 days without LTI on June 4, 2021.

This achievement, according to the company, was reflective of SHIN’s intense focus on ensuring the health and safety of its entire workforce through significant investment in training and oversight.

The ship-building industry is potentially a very dangerous one with heavy machinery in operation, explosive gases used for welding and high temperatures in enclosed spaces.

This means that there are many challenges to ensuring the health and safety of a large and diverse workforce.

Commenting on the achievement, Senior Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Manager of Samsung Heavy Industries, Nigeria, Mr Bala Adjuya, said:

“At Samsung Heavy Industries, Nigeria, one of our main focuses is the health and safety of everyone.

“We prioritise the importance of our staff, partners and stakeholders getting home safely every day.

“We do this by using the highest standard of protective equipment and safety measures at work daily. Every life is valued and given the utmost priority, this is why SHIN take health and safety very seriously,” Adjuya explained.

Adjuya added that the company ensures the extensive training of all employees.

According to him, all visitors and contractors at SHI-MCI’s sites are given the safety requirements and the right equipment to attend to the daily tasks at work.

“This industry is one of the most dangerous as we use heavy machinery, dangerous gases and chemicals in our various areas of work at our facility. With the rigorous training and awareness programmes laid out by Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, these risks have been severely reduced and the facility remains one of the safest in the country,” he explained.

In addition to continuous staff training, the company also investigates every worksite for hazards and implements mitigation measures with active HSE personnel constantly on sites to ensure safety protocols are followed.

LTI is an HSE term that means “lost time injury”, which is an injury sustained by an employee that will lead to loss of productive work time.

Even one minor incident will result in a complete reset of the LTIs counter to zero.

The company had set for itself, a target of 0.9 per cent LTIs on the Egina FPSO Project in Nigeria.

In order to achieve this challenging target, SHI-MCI followed a rigorous process.

At the peak of the Egina FPSO Project, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria employed approximately 3,500 employees at its fabrication and integration yard in Lagos.