Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) and International Distillers Uganda (IDU) sites today celebrate 4 and 9 years of “No Lost Time Accident” (LTA), a milestone they made on the 8th and 20th September, 2016 respectively. According to Uganda Breweries, an LTA is a type of accident that will cause a member of the workforce to skip work for a day to pursue treatment. These kinds of accidents are common place in plants where heavy machinery is operated.
UBL operates two plants in Uganda – a beer and a spirit’s plan, both of which employ an estimated 28,000 people through its supply value chain. As an end to end business, the company is involved in the process of sourcing materials through to manufacturing and to distribution of renowned brands including Bell Lager, Pilsner Lager, Senator Stout and Uganda Waragi.
As part of the celebration, UBL has launched a safety campaign themed, “I AM WORKING SAFE EVERYDAY,” to create awareness, sensitize and zero down accidents in the workplace.
Which can only be achieved through the development of a high-performing safety culture and the implementation of world-class safety systems and activities.
Addressing the press at Uganda Breweries Limited, Shane Healy, Supply Chain Director Uganda Breweries said the milestone is a rare accomplishment that many companies strive to reach but few eventually achieve.
“For a business of this magnitude that handles machinery, flammable and hazardous materials, attaining this safety milestone proves that our employees are firmly committed to safety excellence. We have established the culture in which our employees believe that no task is worth doing without taking the time to do it safely.”Shane relayed.
RonadleyMiti, The Uganda Breweries safety manager said safety is a core value at UBL. He added,” Choosing to work safely is the single most important job we all have to do – every task and every shift. I am immensely proud of our employees for achieving this impressive safety milestone.”
The brewery has dedicated a week to “Health and Safety” where it will take all the company staff through rigorous health and safety training to educate them about the risks associated with their work and environment in accordance with section 13 of Uganda’s Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2006 that states that stresses the obligation of an employer to ensure health, safety and welfare of persons at workplace.
Some of the activities for the safety week will include Safety and Health Awareness sessions (Road safety, Health living, ergonomics, Fire drills (day &night) and testing of emergency procedure as well as better Driver (Defensive driving) awareness and a Health Camp (Lung-function test, Audiometry, Cancer Screening (PSA, HPV, Breast Cancer), education, BMI, Nutrition, Fitness, vitals medical checkup, Diabetes and hypertension)
“We are committed to creating a ZERO HARM safety culture in all our operations, which we would like to see translated into our lives even away from the Brewery. Our aim is to create a proactive safety culture in which all UBL employees believe that all injuries and illnesses are foreseeable and hence preventable. We expect everyone to act in a manner that demonstrates personal commitment to this aim,” he added.
“Zero-Harm” is based on the belief that all injuries and illnesses are foreseeable and preventable. All UBL staff and persons working with them believe it is possible to work injury free and accept their personal commitment and responsibility to zero harm.