From June 12 to 16, 2023, Colas will be celebrating the 10th edition of Safety Week. This week-long event is dedicated to enhancing awareness of health and safety concerns among the company's 58,000 employees, across its 900 construction units and 3,000 production and recycling facilities spanning 50 countries.
In addition to the everyday efforts of each employee around the world, Safety Week serves as an important opportunity to foster dialogue and underline the significance of both individual and collective commitment to safety and health, with a single goal for the Group as a whole: zero accidents.
The remarkable momentum of Safety Week, which was initiated a decade ago, is bearing fruit, as evidence in Colas’ positive safety results. Colas has achieved a noteworthy reduction in its frequency rate1 over the past ten years, nearly halving it from 8.15 to less than 5. In addition, in 2022 on a global scale, one-third of Colas entities with at least 20 employees did not record any work accidents. This demonstrates the Group's persistent dedication to preventing work accidents and prioritizing the safety of its employees.
This year, Safety Week is addressing the risk of collisions between vehicles and pedestrians, as it remains a leading cause of severe accidents and fatalities within the Colas Group. In response to this concerning issue, Colas has established a dedicated "Safety" organization specifically tailored to the unique requirements of its construction sites. This includes allocating adequate human and material resources, as well as implementing a transparent process for sharing information on accidents, best practices, and systematic analyses of near-miss incidents with high potential for severity. Furthermore, recognizing the potential of Artificial Intelligence, safety teams at Colas are looking into accident predictability in a project with Colas France and the Group Innovation and Sustainability Department.
"Through collective vigilance, unwavering commitment, and leading by example, we aim to make Colas the benchmark in our sector in terms of health and safety and achieve our goal of 'zero accidents'", explains Frédéric Gardès, Chairman & CEO of Colas.
Consolidating a safety and health culture worldwide to protect its employees and stakeholders is one of Colas' eight CSR commitments.
1 Number of accidents with sick leave x 1,000,000 /number of hours worked
