Spie

2010/06/03

SPIE Nucléaire scoops 1st Prize in the 2009 SERCE Safety Awards.
The SERCE and OPPBTP reward SPIE Sud-Ouest and SPIE Nucléaire with two jury's special prizes.
Three other subsidiaries are also among the prize-winners.

With an accident frequency rate (AFR) of 5.1 for its own employees in 2009, SPIE has continued to achieve the best results for safety in its professional field. The Group contributed to the progress noted throughout its sector by notching up a 12% improvement on its performance for the previous year. (The average AFR for all SERCE member companies in France was 13.8). SPIE also achieved a significant improvement in safety for its temporary personnel, to bring its overall accident frequency rate (for its own employees plus temporary personnel) down by 21% (from 8.1 to 6.4). Illustrating SPIE's determined safety policy, several of the Group's subsidiaries won various prizes at the recently held SERCE and OPPBTP Safety Awards.

SPIE Nucléaire won 1st Prize for Safety for the many accident prevention measures it has implemented in recent years and which have enabled it to achieve a remarkably high level of safety. It was also given a "jury's special prize" for integrating safety into its acquisition strategy: faced with much higher accident frequency rates in some of the companies it had recently taken over, SPIE Nucléaire extended its safety policy as a common goal covering all employees.

SPIE Sud-Ouest received a "jury's special prize" for its stress prevention policy. In co-operation with the regional health insurance service and the occupational medical service, this subsidiary set up special working groups made up of employees representing all levels of responsibility. These highly focused working groups helped identify the various situations liable to generate stress, institute preventive actions and draw up a special management chart. This campaign was launched in 2008, in advance of regulations requiring action in this field.

Four other prizes were also awarded to SPIE subsidiaries for their outstanding efforts and results in promoting safety:

• 1st prize for Commercial Sector and Industrial activities (200,000 to 500,000 hours): SPIE Ile-de-France Nord-Ouest - Nord Pas-de-Calais office. AFR of 0 for the last three years.
• 1st prize for Commercial Sector and Industrial Network activities (60,000 to 200,000 hours): SPIE Sud-Ouest - Aquitaine MGT Office (Talence). AFR of 0 for the last three years.
• 2nd prize for Commercial Sector and Industrial activities (200,000 to 500,000 hours): SPIE Sud-Ouest - Aquitaine Office (Serres Castet). AFR of 0 for the last three years.
• Commendation for Commercial Sector and Industrial activities: SPIE Est (Uckange)

"These results show, once again, that safety is among our top priorities," says Jean Lucas, SPIE's Sustainable Development Director. "There's no such thing as bad luck in this field: by taking proper care at all times, if everyone is fully committed - from installers to managers - and by introducing innovative measures in the field, we believe we can achieve "zero accidents", as demonstrated by several of our entities in 2009."

NB - The prizes given by SERCE and OPPBTP reward electrical engineering and HVAC firms not only for their safety results but also for their initiatives in work organisation, their methods of enhancing communication with - and the awareness of - their personnel, and their implementation of new equipment. Prizes are allocated according to the size and business field of the candidate companies. The jury is made up of company managers from the sector, permanent representatives of SERCE (French association of electrical engineering and HVAC companies) and OPPBTP(French public works and building trades safety organisation), customer representatives and temporary employment agencies.

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