ArcelorMittal Gent fellow workers say that quite often. And rightly so. When we talk about a “light” steel coil, we mean one that weighs 20 tonnes. When a steel slab leaves the furnaces of the hot strip mill at a temperature of 1,150°C, we sometimes refer to it as an "ice-cold" slab.

Anyone working at ArcelorMittal Gent is working in a particular environment. It is important for all employees to be aware of that, in order for them to work safely. Our company tries to raise safety awareness day in, day out by integrating safety in  TPM  and by observing the principle of “shared vigilance”. Shared vigilance means that employees pay attention not only to their own safety but also to that of their colleagues.

In order to stress the importance of health and safety, we take part in the worldwide Health and Safety Day, organised by the  ArcelorMittal group. This event takes place in every company that is part of the steel group, worldwide. Each company has its own activities to make its employees more aware of the importance of health and safety both at work and at home.

On this particular day, numerous activities focusing on health and safety are organised. Employees for instance get to watch a movie featuring some of their colleagues testifying about an accident they had and about how important safety regulations and safety equipment really are. Furthermore, attention is given to important issues such as fall protection, fire prevention, preventive maintenance, car maintenance and so

On the same occasion, we also publish a special edition of our personnel magazine that focuses on health and safety. Not only our own employees receive this edition, but also anyone living in a 10 km radius of our company. In total, 34,000 magazines are distributed. After all, working on your health and safety is not something you only do on the shop floor, but also on your way to or from work and – not to be forgotten - at home.