Health and safety

The management of health and safety in GKN is based on the internationally recognised health and safety system standard - OHSAS 18001. So far 92 locations have achieved certification to OHSAS 18001 and the remainder of our sites are working towards this.

GKN is committed to continuous improvement in health and safety performance. Our goal is zero preventable accidents.

We measure progress towards our goal by two metrics based on accident incidence rates per 1000 employees. Accident frequency rate (AFR) is used to track the number of lost time accidents and accident severity rate (ASR) records the number of days lost due to accidents.

Against these metrics we have made substantial progress over the last ten years and our performance compares favourably when benchmarking against other manufacturing organisations. View our latest data which is reported in the Annual Report.

As we get closer to our target of zero accidents, our current focus is on three key areas.

Employee engagement: through the deployment by all employees of a behaviour-based tool known as RADAR (Risk awareness, Detection, Action and Review) which we have developed internally. The tool helps employees to recognise hazards and risks in their work area and empowers them to take action themselves to improve their workplace.

Making the most of specialist resources: a new programme known as “Assess and Improve” is being rolled out, initially across 20 locations, where GKN global safety specialists will carry out a simple qualitative assessment of safety systems, sharing best practice and identifying areas of improvement.  

Communication and training: plant safety corners are increasingly being used across our locations to provide safety information, interactive hazard awareness tools and audio / visual media displays.