Together for Safety at OL3
With the OL3 Project making the switch from construction phase to installation phase also at the reactor island, the time is right to emphasize safety issues. Although, as standard practice, everyone coming to work at the OL3 site undergoes rigorous induction training in all aspects of work safety, the transition to the new project phase brings changes in the nature of the work carried out on site as well as new challenges with respect to fire safety, accident prevention and other key health and safety aspects.
The main speakers at Together for Safety event included OL3 Project Director Jouni Silvennoinen of TVO, Project Director Jean-Pierre Mouroux of the OL3 plant unit supplier AREVA-Siemens Consortium, and representatives of the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and insurance company. Presenters at the event stressed the need to recognise that in many cases work accidents can be avoided, for example through careful work planning and maintaining order and tidiness.
Health and safety have been promoted through a variety of channels throughout the OL3 Project. In addition to site induction training, monthly health and safety themes are featured to promote essential safety aspects such as scaffold work or environmental and waste management. Toolbox Talk safety sessions are also held on site enabling work supervisors to provide employees with advice and guidance on important task-specific safety issues, such as correct use of fall protection. Fire and rescue drills are also carried out regularly.
The site's work safety efforts have produced tangible results, and OL3's accident frequency is significantly below average.
Together for Safety was the first health and safety oriented event of this scale to be held at OL3. The event also clearly showed that the OL3 Project serves as an effective forum to learn from international expertise and best practices. The man behind the idea AREVA-Siemens Project Director Jean-Pierre Mouroux had attended a similar event while working in the US.
Although each newcomer to the OL3 construction site commits during site induction training to ensuring his own safety and that of his colleagues, during the Together for Safety seminar, representatives of several companies undersigned an additional pledge to maintain the highest level of health and safety at the site. The first to add their names to the pledge: TVO's Jouni Silvennoinen (at left), Jean-Pierre Mouroux (AREVA-Siemens) and Uwe Kaufmann (Siemens).