David Burritt, chief executive officer of United States Steel (US Steel) has announced that the company has achieved ISO 45001 certification for its Great Lakes Works and its US Steel Kosice facilities.
The good news for US Steel is that news of the accreditations are more than a year ahead of the steel giant’s commitment to receive certification.
US Steel’s plan is to achieve ISO 45001 by 2024 in line with the goals set out in company’s 2021 Sustainability Report. Facilities in Kosice, Slovakia, and River Rouge and Ecorse, MI, are the company’s first under the standard, the company claims.
Burritt described the latest certification news as a milestone. “We are pleased to reach this safety and sustainability milestone,” he said, elated that the company was more than a year ahead of its target.
“In order to achieve our Best for All strategy, we need the best from all, and with the enhanced structure and data that ISO 45001 brings to our existing, industry-leading best practices, we will be better able to deliver on our commitment to 360-degree safety."
David Burritt, president and CEO, US Steel.
“The phrase ‘safety first’ originated in our steel mills in 1908 and sending our employees back home to their families safely each and every day has always been our most important priority,” said Burritt. “In order to achieve our Best for All strategy, we need the best from all, and with the enhanced structure and data that ISO 45001 brings to our existing, industry-leading best practices, we will be better able to deliver on our commitment to 360-degree safety,” he added.
With ISO 45001 the chief focus is on process over procedure, enabling continuous safety improvement. It takes a holistic approach to the physical, psychological and cognitive condition of workers to minimize the risk of injury or death on the job and incorporates the viewpoints of all safety stakeholders including contractors and employees, according to US Steel.
“US Steel is committed to fostering a culture of caring that makes employee safety a top priority.”
James E Bruno, president, US Steel Kosice
James E Bruno, president of US Steel, said the company is committed to fostering a culture of caring that makes employee safety a top priority. “We strive to maintain the highest safety performance standards, while always looking forward to ensure that we are prepared to address the next safety challenge.”
“This certification builds on our zero-harm culture, including developing an enhanced safety management system that empowers employees to assess, reduce and eliminate workplace risks with an improved safety communications systems and stronger contractor safety processes.”
Robert C Rudge, vice president and chief safety officer, US Steel.
US Steel’s vice president and chief safety and security officer, Robert C Rudge, commented: “This certification builds on our zero-harm culture, including developing an enhanced safety management system that empowers employees to assess, reduce and eliminate workplace risks with an improved safety communications systems and stronger contractor safety processes. He added that ISO 45001 certification provides both management and employees with better data and structure to enable proactive, strategic safety practice improvements ‘ as well as fuller awareness of high-risk and high-hazard activities that will build on our strong safety record’.
US Steel won the National Safety Council’s 2022 Green Cross for Safety Excellence Award, which recognizes a corporation, coalition or organization that is relentless in its pursuit of safety, and was also the recipient of a 2022 Safety and Health Excellence Recognition award from the World Steel Association for ‘delivering demonstrable improvements in safety and health’. In 2021, the company achieved a record global days away from work case rate of 0.06, which is claimed to be’90% better than the US Bureau of Labour Statistics’ global days away from work case rate.
