The certificate was presented by Holger Hoffmann, Head of Environment and Climate Protection at TÜV NORD (3rd person left), in Werdohl on June 26. The certification applies to Outokumpu VDM’s German locations Werdohl, Altena, Unna, Siegen and Essen.

“We regard occupational health and safety as a management task with manifold aspects. OHSAS 18001 and our management handbook prepared in connection with the certification are intended to actively assist our managers in this task,” explains Dr. Jürgen Olbrich, CEO of Outokumpu VDM.

OHSAS 18001 promotes the introduction of a standardized occupational health and safety system that firmly anchors health protection and accident prevention in the company. “We have a tradition of occupational health and safety. In the last few years, we have gradually implemented an extensive package of measures. The aim of the current certification is to make the workplaces at our company safer and enhance the transparency of our internal company processes so as to further reduce the number of accidents at work. Through the certification, we can identify gaps in occupational health and safety more easily and clearly assign tasks to specific people,” explains Michael Baar, Head of Labor Economics and Occupational Safety at Outokumpu VDM (2nd person left).

“Such a project usually starts with an extensive risk analysis and a review of existing occupational health and safety measures,” says Baar. The certification process kicked off in January with the Stage One audit. After this the company had twelve weeks to implement the requirements of the standard. Finally, from April 8 to 12, the TÜV NORD auditors visited various Outokumpu VDM plants for the concluding audit. At Outokumpu VDM, the certification culminated in the issue of a comprehensive handbook on occupational health and safety management which was jointly approved by employer and employee representatives.

Contact:
Philipp Verbnik
Marketing & Regional Management, Outokumpu VDM
Telefon: +49 2392 55 2274
E-Mail: Philipp.Verbnik@outokumpu.com