Prevention & awareness are Key in Safety

Perspectives and best practices shared by Alain Denielle, Health & Safety and Environment Director, Rousset, France

Manufacturing electronic components requires the use of chemical products: acids, bases, solvents and ammoniac products and more than 10 different gases.

Of course, following the company’s procedures, and in line with regulations and certifications, all those products are well known, identified and tracked by Health & Safety departments, Medical departments and the users themselves.

Even with a complete and controlled manufacturing process, awareness and prevention are key for safety on a site like Rousset with a 8” manufacturing unit and a test workshop, representing a clean room area of around 11,000 square meters and more than 800 kinds of equipment.

We go much further than what is recommended by regulations, and work on detection.

More than 900 measuring points are checked on a continuous basis in manufacturing but also in technical areas.

In addition, 5 spectrophotometers monitor the ambiance periodically with 155 sensors in those clean rooms, providing more than 5,000 data per day about 40 potential chemicals.

And to make sure that all users are aware of our systems and processes, we invest in training for all our employees. More than 15,000 hours of training on safety & health matters are now done every year in Rousset.

Over the last two years, on Rousset Site, all employees working in the clean room have been involved in a huge training program called ‘Objectif Prévention’. Organized within a day, the objective of this course is to inform, present and demonstrate the safety equipment, processes and projects through very interactive training involving games and role play.

Being more aware of all safety procedures, people understand better what is done to protect them but also know better what role they can also play to increase safety.

This program had very good results. More than 1,000 people have been involved in the last 2 years and the feedback from participants was very positive.

The program was possible because of management commitment: 300 managers participated in a 2 day safety training prior to this program, understanding their safety & health responsibilities and therefore preparing for and promoting the awareness program.

The next step - Behavioral Approach - is currently being prepared and will involve information for employees and additional training on behavior. This program, allowing and encouraging employees to observe the behavior of their colleagues on the job, with a specific ‘observation process’, should allow the identification of unsafe or inappropriate behavior, therefore facilitating corrective and preventive actions.