OKD is a member of the Czech Technology Platform on Industrial Safety

OSTRAVA – OKD representatives took part in a unique meeting of major companies and institutions of the Moravian-Silesian Region that are engaged in security issues in the industry. On Thursday, March 17, it was held by the Czech Technology Platform on Industrial Safety (CZ-TPIS), a civic association of companies and institutions that work together to identify national interests and the future direction of research and development in industrial safety.

A civic association established last year, the Safety and Technology Cluster, further develops the mission and the activities of the Platform. The members of the Cluster include industrial firms, universities, scientific research institutions and other entities of the private and public sector in the Moravian-Silesian Region. Among its twenty members, there is inter alia OKD, the Main Mines Rescue Station. At the meeting at Ostrava, it was represented by a three-member delegation headed by Chief Engineer Zdeněk Pavelek.

“The safety of OKD employees and, in general, the setting of safety criteria for the extraction of coal are our highest priority. We would like to exchange our experience with other firms and that is also why we became a member of the Czech Technology Platform on Industrial Safety,“ said OKD Spokesman, Vladislav Sobol, who was one of those at the event who presented practical measures of their companies in the area of safety.

After the speech of Ivo Vondrák, the Principal of the Technical University of the Mining College in Ostrava, and Pavel Bartoš, the Chairman of the Regional Chamber of Commerce of Moravian-Silesian Region, the OKD spokesman used specific examples to demonstrate the substantial attention paid by the mining company to the safety and health protection of mine workers. “As a result of the SAFETY 2010 programme, within the scope of which the OKD company invested more than 500 million crowns in protective gear and in the improvement of safety at work, we managed to significantly reduce the accident rate in the mines in the last two years," said Mr. Sobol.

He also spoke about the POP 2010 programme, the implementation of which represented new investment in modern mining and driving equipment in the amount of almost CZK 10 billion. Due to POP, both safety and productivity of work increased. Vladislav Sobol also shared experience with the "Safety First" competition, which involved more than 15 thousand employees. They were motivated not only by the main prize – a Skoda Fabia car, but also by other valuable rewards for accident-free work such as vouchers for holidays abroad, TV sets and laptops. “ If the collective activity of companies focusing on security in the industry helped to prevent even a single accident in OKD or in another company, it makes sense. In the area of safety, competition is not what matters and we must act together, "said Mr. Sobol.

His lecture won acclaim of the audience for its pertinence. As it was also mentioned in the conference room, specific examples from the sphere of safety that are given can be inspiring for many industrial firms of our region.

Josef Lys