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Safety around the clock at the Volvo Group in Brazil

2021-06-13
At the Volvo Group in Curitiba, Brazil, the employees put the emphasis on safety 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. “We’re very good at looking after ourselves in the factory and the office. We’ve put in place a whole series of measures to reduce the number of accidents. But as soon as we leave work, we forget to think about our safety. That’s why we started the 24/7 Safety programme,” says Maila Faria, Safety Manager, Volvo Group Latin America.
Safety around the clock at the Volvo Group in Brazil
The programme is aimed at all 3000 employees of the Volvo Group in Curitiba.

Make employees aware

The aim of the programme is to make employees aware that safety is not just essential at work. It is equally important to take a preventive approach at home, at your exercise class, on the bus or on a bike ride.

“We asked ourselves why we have so much knowledge about following the rules, using protective equipment and looking after one another at work, but we don’t use that knowledge as soon as we leave work. The goal of the programme is to change employees’ attitudes and encourage them to put their knowledge into practice at home with their families,” explains Maila Faria.

The 24/7 Safety programme was launched in July 2020 together with teams from Volvo Group Trucks Operations, that all have different experience of safety activities into the plant.

The programme is aimed at all 3000 employees in the factory and the offices of the Volvo Group in Curitiba.

 

A digital safety week

To make the message as clear as possible, the programme has a logo and four key points: Be safe at home, Get to Volvo safely, Be safe at work and Come home safely.

The information is communicated to employees via posters throughout the workplace, short information events, newsletters and a digital safety week. Every new employee also gets an overview of the programme on their first day at work. A smartphone app has been launched, which shows a video every day explaining part of the programme. Quizzes and games are also used to convey safety information.

Marcio Monika, Juliana Guedes, Cyro Martins, Vilma Mattos, Emerson Sanders and Maila Faria, work together with the program.

A difference in employees’ behaviour

Despite the pandemic and the difficulties involved in bringing employees together, the programme has aroused a great deal of interest.

“Particularly after our digital safety week, we noticed a difference in employees’ behaviour. For instance, at the bus stop, people used to rush for the bus after work, but they started moving more slowly. A lot of employees also told us about making changes in their homes after the programme started,” says Maila Faria.

Now the plan is to continue with the programme, including organising another digital safety week in August.

“I am convinced that everyone wants to be safer. By continuing to give our employees information, I hope that we can make a difference. It is impossible to be safe employee unless you are a safe person first,” explains Maila Faria.

Learn more about how we work with health and workplace wellbeing .

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