Vedanta Aluminium’s Awareness Campaign ‘Safety Santa’ In Odisha’s Jharsuguda

Jharsuguda: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, organised an innovative safety sensitisation campaign at its plant and township with ‘Safety Santa’ here on Christmas Eve.

The company’s safety personnel dressed as Santa Claus and visited various plant sites and homes of employees to reiterate the core tenets of safety at work and home in an engaging manner.

Besides spreading festive cheer, Vedanta Jharsuguda’s Safety Santas conducted safety awareness sessions which included safety standdowns, fire-fighting training, adherence to personal protective equipment (PPEs), and the dos and don’ts of electrical & household safety, while also encouraging people to be alert, no matter what task they engage in.

“At Vedanta Aluminium, the safety and wellbeing of our community, employees, and business partners is of critical importance to us. We are committed to upholding the highest safety standards at our workplace and extend this culture of safety & care to our community as well. Innovative initiatives such as ‘Safety Santa’ help us instil the message of safety-first amongst our workforce, families and communities in a fun but meaningful way,” said Sunil Gupta, CEO Vedanta Ltd, Jharsuguda.

Sanjib Kumar Jena, one of the employees who participated in the session, termed it as ‘very engaging and informative’.

“Families of employees, particularly children, are far more receptive to imbibing safe practices, which are otherwise quite serious in nature, when they are relayed in memorable ways such as these. I thank the company for conducting such awareness camps which makes us understand how simple safety measures and practices help in keeping us safe,” said Jena.

Vedanta Aluminium is working extensively towards creating a safer workplace and community by constantly assessing and augmenting its Safety Management System. Among notable safety practices undertaken by the company are:

* Sankalp, a Safety Culture Transformation Programme implemented by Vedanta Aluminium across all its operations

* An all-women fire-fighting team ‘Agnivahini’ at Jharsuguda, who have been meticulously trained to act efficiently and effectively in event of an emergency, offering off-site response support to the local administration and community

* Safety Stand Down, a programme wherein leadership teams engage with employees and business partners on various facets of health, safety and environment, to build a holistic safety-first culture

* Regular Mock Drills & Safety Awareness Sessions organized in collaboration with National Disaster Reduction Force (NDRF) and Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA)

* ‘Pehchan’ safety induction program that seeks to build a safety-first culture amongst new recruits and introduce them to robust safety management systems

* Fire Stewards initiative wherein fire safety personnel sensitise business partners on fire safety, onsite emergency plans and the basics of firefighting

* Fire, electrical & household-safety training sessions for school students and community members by employee volunteers of the company.