Occupational Health and Safety
Work environment performance of the Company is in compliance with the requirements of national legislation and international occupational health and safety management system standard OHSAS 18001. We want to be a company who promotes safe work culture and ensures a safe environment for its customers and team. Safety is an inseparable part of our business. It is central to everything we do, and we make absolutely compromises about safety.
In 2015, the Labour Inspectorate recognized us with an award “Good Working Environment 2015”. This award was given to two companies who value occupational safety and health of their employees.
We had no work accidents in AS Tallinna Vesi in 2015. One minor work accident with an employee working at Company’s subsidiary OÜ Watercom was registered.
Work environment trainings
The implementation and results of work environment related actions are largely dependent on the awareness of employees. Therefore, much attention is paid to trainings, information materials and other actions to raise awareness of the issues related to work environment.
In addition to usual safety trainings owe carried out the following trainings in 2015:
- Members of the Work Environment Council had a study tour to our parent company United Utilities in UK, to learn about the local work environment and safety measures. The visit was followed by an action plan on how to implement the ideas gathered during this trip in our Company.
- Surface rescue and pollution removal training exercise at the Water Treatment Plant, organized in cooperation with Tallinn Airport and Northern Rescue Centre, to test the reactions and preparedness for a large-scale rescue operation in the event of a plane crash at Lake Ülemiste, and the preparedness of Tallinn Ambulance Service to react to the events involving numerous casualties.
- Chemical training exercise at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, organized in cooperation with the Rescue Board, Tallinn Ambulance Service, Police and the Environmental Board, to test the reactions and solving the problem in the event of a chemical (methanol) leakage in a hazardous enterprise.
Continuous improvement in occupational safety
Similar to the previous years we are committed to the continuous improvement of work environment. Most important actions in 2015 included:
- All management members, as well as the main and substitute members of the Work Environment Council carried out at least six occupational safety audits across the Company. Out of nearly 500 findings 85% have been corrected and active work is ongoing to correct the rest of the findings. Such audits will become an inseparable part of our actions also in the upcoming years. In addition, we inspect our repair and construction sites on a daily basis to ensure that the H&S and environmental requirements are being met.
- The company placed four heart defibrillators at various locations, thus improving our first aid ability and preparedness for the emergency situations. 100 employees, including all the first aid givers, attended the trainings on how to use the defibrillators.
- During the period of 2013-2015 we replaced all office chairs and organized relevant trainings to ensure an ergonomically correct and convenient seating position for the staff.