Leapfrogging OHS practices is one of the greatest benefits the Group can bring to employees, their families and local communities when taking on new factories in emerging markets.
Introduction of the Electrolux Manufacturing System at a refrigerator, washing machine and cooker factory in Santiago, Chile, after it joined the Electrolux Group in 2011, resulted in a step-change in safety performance. In just three years, the plant realized a staggering 72% reduction in accidents.
Since safety performance at Santiago was first measured and integrated into Group KPIs in 2012, the factory has made rapid progress in many areas of operational excellence. Its record of 174 days without accidents is amongst the best in the Group, while Not Right First Time (NRFT) improved by 38%. In 2014 the Total Case Injury Rate (TCIR) was 0.78, and in 2015 the target is 0.72. This performance makes Santiago a worthy winner of the Electrolux Latin America best performer in OHS award 2014.
Improvement like this doesn’t happen by chance and in Santiago intense training, based on EMS best practice, is central to the success story. In the nine months since its launch in March 2014, the Operation School trained 2,467 workers an average of twice each. A thorough induction process is carried out by Santiago plant volunteers, taking 10 days to cover both the theory and practice of desired safety, quality and productivity behaviors on the factory floor.