Occupational Safety Guidelines at Salzgitter AG
Occupational safety is a high priority corporate goal of Salzgitter AG. Our responsibility derives from our obligation to safeguard the well-being and physical health of our own employees, but also the employees of partner companies, customers, suppliers and our visitors.
Compliance with the law and self-imposed obligations is a given for us. Our understanding of responsible occupational safety extends beyond the mere observance of legal regulations but at the same time forms part of our business decisions. Reducing accidents is firmly embedded as a goal in our group strategy Salzgitter AG 2030.
Our Group directive Occupational health and safety defines the safety policy as well as the elements and standards of health and safety management in the Salzgitter Group. Besides our own employees, the directive also covers all partner companies working in group companies.
The different requirements in the individual Business Units and Group companies of Salzgitter AG specify that occupational safety issues are handled on a decentralized basis. Occupational safety committees and risk assessments are key cornerstones of work on site. The inclusion of our co-determination bodies and employees is essential to this process. Accidents are systematically investigated and analyzed. Corresponding measures to prevent future accidents are derived and implemented on this basis.
By conducting regular training and communication measures, we require and promote employees’ safety awareness for themselves and for others. Collaboration with partner companies is given concrete shape by means of corresponding specifications such as general and order-specific instructions within an external company management system.
Through our Group committee on occupational safety reporting directly to the Personnel and Group Industrial Relations Director, we ensure a group-wide exchange on safety issues and support Group companies in continuously improving occupational safety in their plants. In order to review and refine our processes, we also aim to obtain certification for our occupational safety management systems in Group companies. Over 60% of our employees in Germany and abroad are already covered by an occupational safety management system today that is certified to ISO 45001™.
We regularly provide further information on occupational safety at Salzgitter AG as well as associated indicators in our Non-Financial Report.
SALCOS® - We turn steel green
With SALCOS®, we have joined forces with partners from industry and research to lay the foundations for virtually CO2-free steel production. Central elements of the concept are electricity from renewable sources and its use in the production of hydrogen by means of electrolysis. This green hydrogen will replace the coal we currently use in the conventional blast furnace process. This will be possible with the help of so-called direct reduction plants, in which iron ore is reduced to iron directly in the solid state by hydrogen. This technology emits water vapor instead of CO2.
Our SALCOS® program thus pursues the Carbon Direct Avoidance approach, which stands for avoiding the generation of CO2 in steel production from the outset. Overall, our approach enables us to reduce CO2 emissions in steel production by over 95 %.
