In its commitment to promote the highest standards in workplace safety, Saudi Readymix became the first ready-mixed concrete company in Saudi Arabia to certify all of its factory managers with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) accreditation, the company said in a statement Monday. All participating managers took part in an intensive training program, which was conducted over a period of two weeks. Once the training was concluded, the participants had to undertake and pass a comprehensive exam to become OSHA certified. All Saudi Readymix factory managers passed. The same OSHA training and certification program is at the moment being translated into several languages and developed to be made available for all Saudi Readymix employees. "There are many dangers in the workplace, ranging from machinery and equipment risks to certain chemical hazards, which may raise safety concerns. Moreover, health is another aspect that we at Saudi Readymix give the highest level of priority to when it comes to health and safety management," Khalid Baghdadi, Saudi Readymix Managing Director, said. With a workforce of over 2,900 employees spread across 28 ready-mixed concrete factories, 3 aggregate quarries, 3 block plants, a large transportation fleet and working on different projects throughout the country, it is no wonder that Saudi Readymix is keen on the highest standards of workplace health and safety. "Aside from workplace health and safety being a social responsibility towards our stakeholders, practicing safety helps create a better work environment, aims to keep staff protected from harm, enables projects to finish on time, reduces costs and enhances productivity," Baghdadi continued. "Several years ago, we deployed a team of safety officers to all our factories throughout the Kingdom and launched an internal safety awareness campaign. Since then we have managed to reduce Lost Time Injury, specifically in 2010. Our current objective is to reach zero Lost Time Injury," Baghdadi added. OSHA is an American agency established in 1970.
