Safety and Health
Our aspiration is to work safely, all of the time, everywhere. We attend to health and safety before any other priorities, putting the protection of human life above all else. Underscoring our commitment is our Care for People Value.
Each day, we strive for what we believe is the ambitious yet attainable goal of zero fatalities and zero life-threatening or life-altering injuries and illnesses.
Our systems are designed to prevent loss of life and serious injury at our locations. This is our most fundamental objective.
In 2019, we had our second consecutive year with no employee or contractor workplace fatalities. However, we had three serious injuries that underscored the need for continuous improvement. In addition, a contracted worker died after an accident at our Poços de Caldas facility in Brazil in February 2020.
Our OneAlcoa: United for Safety initiative integrates temporary workers, contractors and visitors into our safety programs and data. While we have seen some year-over-year increases in our safety rates as we better identify risks with these groups, all of our rates have remained significantly below the most recent U.S. manufacturing averages.
Safety Performance
Employees and all contractors
Safety Performance Employees and all contractors
| Fatalities (Employees/all contractors) |
Fatal and Serious Injury/Illness Rate | Days Away, Restricted and Transfer Rate | Lost Workday Rate | Total Recordable Incident Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2/1 | 1.82 | 0.33 | 0.12 | 1.11 |
| 2016 | 0/1 | 1.08 | 0.29 | 0.15 | 1.10 |
| 2017 | 0/3 | 1.86 | 0.62 | 0.25 | 1.57 |
| 2018 | 0 | 1.84 | 0.71 | 0.22 | 1.66 |
| 2019 | 0 | 1.38 | 0.86 | 0.22 | 1.81 |
Our health vision is to prevent future occupational disease through our exposure controls; support personal health and well-being through our workplaces and culture; and operate in a manner that does not negatively impact the health of our communities.
A four-pillar health framework, with overlapping and synergistic elements, guides our strategies and tactics toward achieving this vision:
- Health hazard controls to prevent occupational disease;
- Health status and fitness for work to ensure an employee’s health status is compatible with assigned work;
- Community and public health, which facilitates our social license to operate; and
- Personal health and well-being.
Further guiding our efforts are internal global health standards that often are more stringent than those specified by applicable law. We also proactively identify and respond to emerging health-related trends in our industry, and we have a long-standing relationship with the Health Committee of the International Aluminium Institute.
Learn more in the full 2019 Alcoa Sustainability Report.
Case Studies
A Life Saved
When Doug Buist walked into the onsite medical facility at our Wagerup refinery in Western Australia for his company medical evaluation, he was confident of a good outcome due to his active lifestyle, healthy diet and adherence to Alcoa’s health protection practices. He left with a referral to a cardiologist—an unexpected turn of events that ultimately would save his life.
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The (Virtual) Reality of Safety
Surrounded by familiar equipment and sounds, employees at our refineries worldwide are learning how to safely and correctly complete high-risk tasks—without the high risk.
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