Posted By Barrie Etter HELP!!!!!!!!!! I'm suffering a mental block - who are / were the much vaunted company with the excellent safety record with 10+ years nil major accidents and similar for the minor ones as well? I remember being told of them when doing my NEBOSH 5 yrs ago. But for all the racking of my brain I'm unable to remember their name. And before Merv sticks his oar in I accept senility as the cause!!! Any sugestion for that company's name? Thanks in advance. Regards, Barrie

Posted By Frank Newman Yeah, ok, I'll stick my hands in the air, it's Du pont. I worked for them for 25 years. In 1972 Jim Brown suffered a broken leg when a machine he was moving toppled over and fell on him. In 1976 Ernie Hall lost the tips of two fingers while cleaning a rubber mixer. In 1984 Jacquie Villhomme suffered from a cracked mastoid when he slipped on an icy path. I can give you all the details of each of these accidents because they are the only ones I have experienced at my Dupont sites. In fact, the last is the only one that happened on my watch. I can still give you the time of day and the date. If you work for Du pont accidents don't happen. Believe it. They do. Merv Some Dupont manufacturing/chemical sites with 1000+ employees have racked up 50 years without a lost time injury. Now, how are you going to do the same ?

Posted By Frank Newman Oh God ! please don't start talking about STOP. It brings back so many pain filled memories. I will admit and assure that STOP, as with the rest of the DuPont safety systems works. But they represent a regime of total fear. You can be 99% in compliance with safety rules and still expect a total kicking for the missing 1% A supervisor who has an accident in his area will never ever be promoted again. A plant manager who has too many accidents on his site can lose his job. (I've known it) Therefore, within dupont, in order to protect one's external orifices (orifii ?) from severe reamings a maximum effort is put into accident prevention. It may not be pleasant but it does work. I don't have the stats for 2006 (anyone ?) but I would expect that for the 100 000 employees worldwide of DuPont there were not many more than 25 Lost time injuries last year. Mind you, the most common cause of violent death off-the-job for a Du pont employee was being murdered by one's spouse. Stress. it can really get you where it hurts. Merv

Posted By Diane Thomason One thing that's bothered me about these "zero accidents" type of policies - do they take into account the "IP tripped over own feet" or "IP walked into lamppost" (not looking) types of accidents? Surely it isn't possible to hold supervisors responsible for these - or are they not recorded?

Posted By Frank Newman Oh dear, here we go again. I can only speak from personal experience ; 25 years with DP, 16 as plant H&S manager. Yes there is pressure, but not to under report. The pressures are : 1. Do not have accidents. 2. In case of accident get it treated and reported. 3. Find and manage the root causes 4. Get back to work as fast as possible. On my sites the guy with the laptop would not have stayed at home, he would have been bussed in. Cruel perhaps, but we would also have provided chauferred transport over the weekend so as to enable a normal family life. (ie the weekend shopping) Again, from personal experience : on my UK site (just over the fence from Buncefield) we did not have a serious injury, nor anything above first aid level for the six years I was H&S. On my French site we had ONE lost time injury (guy slipped on ice and banged his head)and three "medical treatment" injuries. Two of those were cut fingers (stitches) and the other was a bruised ankle. No lost time. And that was over a 10 year period with 500 people. By the time I left we had gone 8 years since our last Medical treatment. You may not like the system (I dont) but it does achieve zero injuries. Merv

Posted By Frank Newman Not wishing to mislead but I was only talking about the serious injuries requiring treatment by someone medically qualified. I think I did actually say something like "no more than first aid level" injuries. I can't remember the numbers for the UK site but in France we averaged about 25 entries in the first aid register per year. Mainly hand injuries. Merv