2018 - a sample of
industry 4.0

01 Safe, healthy, quality working lives for our people

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Raise the bar

Raise the Bar Together safe

As far as safety is concerned, we only have one ultimate goal: the prevention of accidents. That is why we launched our safety action plan ‘Raise the Bar’ at the start of 2018. In 2018, all sites worked hard on the associated five axes that should help us to continue improving safety and broaden the support for creating a safer working environment:

  • Strengthen shared vigilance and role of stewards
  • Example behavior & discipline
  • Don't improvise, but consult
  • Follow the work instructions
  • Take the human factor into consideration
Pillar 8 team Eurogal (finalist)
Pillar 8 team blast furnace A (finalist)

Our four corporate values

Central to ‘Raise the Bar’ are the input and involvement of all colleagues on the shop floor. Our four corporate values – transparency, respect, collaboration and subsidiary – also fit perfectly in this safety story. Shared vigilance, a safe environment for all, where everyone is responsible for and takes care of one another, requires that these values are actively supported by everyone.

  • Subsidiarity

    Giving responsibility to the right people in the right job makes a company efficient and increases the involvement of all employees. It encourages us to carry out our tasks independently, to take initiative and to grow in our job, as a result.

  • Respect

    Respect for colleagues, supervisors and employees, for customers and suppliers, for all people we collaborate with, is an essential value in our company. We value everyone’s contributions and respect each individual for his/her personality and individuality. We are convinced that diversity will lead to creative and innovative ideas.

  • Transparency

    It is important that everyone feels closely involved with his/her daily activities and with our company. Having the necessary information, being able to rely on existing knowledge and experience are essential for that purpose. But transparency also means that we are prepared to listen and make time to share information.

  • Collaboration

    A good mutual collaboration across positions and departments is the basis for a pleasant working environment where every employee feels good. A modern company must be based on teamwork and mutual trust, on a collective endeavour to continuous improvement.

Pillar 8 team picking line 1 (winning team)

Pillar 8 award

The pillar 8 award was handed out again in 2018 at our sites in Ghent, Genk, Geel and Liège. With the pillar 8 awards, we wish to acknowledge teams for their efforts in terms of safety and ergonomics. In the course of 2018, 25 pillar 8 cases were submitted, vying for the award. The pillar 8 award committee - composed of our management committee and the employee representatives of the Committee for Prevention and Protection - reviewed the projects of the three finalists on the shop floor. The 2018 winner was pickling line 1 in Ghent, with a project about the handling of acid tanks. The pillar 8 team of the pickling line developed a solution that involved an enormous step forward in terms safety as well as productivity, efficiency and quality.

OHSAS 18001

The external health and safety audit in conformity with the Standard OHSAS 18001 was first implemented for the whole of ArcelorMittal Belgium (Ghent, Geel, Genk and Liège) in 2018. In 2019, ArcelorMittal Belgium will switch from OHSAS 18001 to the ISO 45001 standard. This ISO norm sets out the new standard for health and well-being.

Health

“As part of our health policy, we strive towards reaching healthy work conditions and for promoting a healthy lifestyle.”

Safety is our highest priority and health is inextricably intertwined with it.

The importance of good ergonomics when working in any role is crucially important. Ergonomics and the physical burden of working in a production environment, for example, are also important within the context of a longer working life. If we want to be able to work longer, we must continue to optimise the working conditions. Aside from taking preventive actions, such as raising awareness, increasing training and communication around well-being at work, we also value the reintegration of employees who were absent due to illness.

The free flu vaccination campaign was once again organised from October 2018 onwards in Ghent and Liège. Over the course of 2018, the various sites of ArcelorMittal Belgium organised several blood donation sessions in collaboration with the Red Cross.

Well-being of our collaborators

73%overall satisfaction & commitment

We regularly organise an employee survey in order to take targeted actions for increasing our employee engagement. It provides an accurate picture of how our employees experience their personal work situation. The most recent employee survey was held in October 2018. Both for overall satisfaction and for commitment, we scored 73%, which is better than average in the Belgian employment market. In 2018, many actions were defined and implemented in the various departments. All engagement and motivation initiatives belong to those domains:

  • Leadership

    Managers play a very important role in motivating employees. We developed a leadership programme with nine ‘Golden Leadership Rules’ that pinpoint the behaviour we expect from someone in a leadership position. Naturally, we also wish to support our managers with training and individual mentoring. In 2018, 182 of more than 500 managers followed the leadership programme called ‘Rond-Leiding’ (‘About Leadership’). The training programme is more comprehensive for the (new) managers, with the support of a mentor.

  • Career management

    Career cafés are a creative and interactive brainstorming process, designed to encourage dialogue and the exchange of knowledge and ideas on the theme: career development. In 2017, seven career cafés were held, attended by over 160 office workers. With the input from the career cafés, we set to work in 2018. A couple of ideas picked up from the career cafés and launched within our organisation were organising team-building activities and interdepartmental collaboration.

  • Induction programme for new employees

    In 2017, the induction programmes for managers, employees and workers were overhauled, with a stronger focus on participation, interaction, collaboration and networking.

  • Feedback discussions with workers

    In 2017, we started holding feedback meetings with all workers. During the annual feedback meetings, employees and their supervisors enter into a dialogue about development, collaboration and the future. 68% of the feedback meetings were conducted in 2018.

  • Resilience

    Within the context of sustainable deployment, ArcelorMittal Gent rolled out an approach to invest in building up more resilience and reducing stress. The approach consists of a training for both employees as well as supervisors to recognise symptoms of stress in good time and to learn how to handle them. In addition, optional first-line support has been made available via an external partner.

  • Working from home

    Since 2016 it is possible for some employees to occasionally work from home.

  • Company cars and bicycles

    Since May 2016, all employees have been given the opportunity to lease a company car. Employees who wish to join the Company Fleet Programme can enjoy the use of a company car in exchange for a contribution. We encourage our colleagues who wish to sign up for a lease car to opt for a greener type of car (e.g. an electric car). Since 2017 we have also offered our employees the possibility to lease a bicycle.

  • World Class Manufacturing (WCM)

    WCM is a culture of continuous improvement, in which the contribution and engagement of employees play a central role. Our colleagues come up with creative solutions to improve their equipment or their method of working. Each year, teams submit hundreds of suggestions for safety improvements, but also for efficiency improvements. Teams are also acknowledged for their efforts with awards and medals.

    In 2018, one department successfully passed a pre-audit to obtain a bronze medal, i.e. the electrolytic galvanising line in Marchin, which was awarded the bronze medal in 2019. In 2019, the pre-audits in the context of the silver medal have been put on the agenda for seven departments.

  • Consultation

    The openness and accessibility of supervisors have the greatest impact on day-to-day activities and on the motivation and commitment of all employees. All of our production departments therefore hold structured work assessment meetings between supervisors and the employees working under their lead.

    In addition, the members of our management committee enter into open dialogue with a group of approximately 25 employees on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Dialogue is crucial, not only during these communication sessions, but also during work appraisal.

    Once a quarter, the management committee arranges a Skype meeting to go into the current market conditions and the priorities of ArcelorMittal Belgium. The session comprises a presentation, followed by a Q&A. At ArcelorMittal in Ghent and Liège, there are also weekly lunches where the exempts can converse with our CEO about company-related issues.

Training courses

Our employees are our biggest asset. That is why we are committed to career development, by offering the necessary training courses, thus enabling our employees to continue developing & broadening their skills. Our employees are also encouraged to take control of their own careers and to reflect on their future. As part of this, we offer numerous options for those who want to progress in their career. In 2018, ArcelorMittal Belgium spent 4.83% of the total payroll on training and education. Whereas the Generation Pact of the federal government established a 1.9% percentage.

Our range of training courses is very diverse and closely follows the training requirements of the different production departments. For example, we organise courses on:

  • Safety

    260
    stewards

    followed a one-week training course in 2018.

    2,723
    employees

    had completed the course 'Take care' by the end of 2018.

    437 supervisors

    had completed a training 'Samen veilig' by the end of 2018.

  • Electrical and mechanical maintenance
  • General education and management skills

    attitude, leadership, teaching methodology, didactics, communication, etc.

  • The production process

    including the metallurgical aspect and customer relations (‘steel industry course’)

  • Computer science

    Office, SAP, as well as in-house software

  • Quality

    quality control, statistics, World Class Manufacturing, etc.

  • Languages

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

Internal events and initiatives for our personnel

On Saturday 30 June, we held the very first family event of ArcelorMittal Belgium in the amusement park Walibi. It became an unforgettable event, in which togetherness was key and where our colleagues were able to get to know each other better in an informal setting.

Every year, the ArcelorMittal group organises a worldwide Health and Safety Day for the entire workforce. On the occasion of the event, we pause and look back at our actions and results in terms of safety in the previous year. It reminds us that there is only one ultimate goal when it comes to safety: zero accidents. In 2018, we held the 12th edition of the Health and Safety Day (26 April). On the Health and Safety Day, all employees received a key ring bearing the ‘Raise the Bar’ logo. This logo symbolises the principle of shared vigilance, with each of us forming an indispensable link in the safety chain.

During the 2018 Health and Safety Day, the 2017 safety award for contractors was awarded to the company Actum. Actum is specialised in maintenance works for production companies. Following the Health and Safety Day, a number of films were distributed via the intranet, safety sessions and our information screens. The topics of these safety films included carrying out and following up initial risk analyses, three-way communication, confiscations via SAP PM-WCM and stopping smoking in a team context.

Under the motto – nothing is more important than your health – ArcelorMittal organises an annual health awareness week in all sites across the world. During the Health Week, we want to encourage our employees to lead a healthy life on a permanent basis. We do this by focussing on stopping smoking, a healthy diet and healthy exercise. We organised different health initiatives closely aligned to these themes.

Annually, we hold a Decoration Happening for all employees with 25, 30, 35 or 40 years of service in our company.

In order to emphasise education, well-being and training, ArcelorMittal holds an annual ‘Learning Week. In 2018, the Learning Week was held from 11 to 15 June. The constant element throughout the Learning Week was ‘A fascinating digital world’. Most activities revolved around digitisation: 3D printing, crane simulators, virtual reality, drones, optical camera recognition, e-learning, etc. Another topic on the agenda was career management. Employees were able to take part in workshops on job crafting and career skills. Information sessions were organised about networks and career guidance. In addition, it was possible to visit various internal job markets.

During the training event of 8 June 2018, the laureates of the courses in steel production, mechanics and electricity and the winners of the WCM pillar 8 award were placed in the spotlight. The 161 participants were treated to music and a delicious dinner in restaurant Huyze De Baere in Maldegem.

In 2018, all employees of ArcelorMittal Belgium could apply for free entrance tickets to the renowned Gent Jazz Festival.