BME EARNS ZERO CASE RATE

In achieving a zero recordable case rate (RCR) for the past year, blasting and explosive solutions specialist BME, part of the Omnia Group, claims to have reached a critical safety milestone for the company.

According to Ramesh Dhoorgapersadh, BME’s general manager for Safety, Health, Environment, Risk and Quality, the company’s ongoing safety e orts are based on its Safety for Life brand. Its zero RCR was achieved for the year ending January 2023.

“We have built our e orts not only on sound policies and systems, but in the committed and practical application of safety principles every day,” he says, emphasising that safety systems and processes needed to be translated into action to be e ective.

“An RCR of zero does not happen overnight, and requires constant reinforcement from the highest level before it forms part of the prevailing culture in the workplace. Our safety protocols are driven by a range of safety interventions.”

These include working on visual felt leadership, process safety, near-miss reporting, driver awareness programmes and fatigue management. According to including driver awareness programmes and fatigue management.

BME managing director Ralf Hennecke, it’s important for company leadership to play an active role in embedding the culture of safety.

“To leverage the power of visual felt leadership, there needs to be a daily commitment by senior executives to focus on how safety plans are being applied onsite. We align our safety e orts firmly with the Omnia Group’s vision of zero harm and positive impact through responsible business practices,” he says.

While being an important milestone, the zero RCR is not an end point in the safety journey, says Dhoorgapersadh. “Rather, the challenge of safety is to continue finding ways to improve – to steadily reduce any risk of incidents.”