TIMAC AGRO is working to further improve
the safety culture of its teams by uniting
its sites and people around a series of key
topics. Camille Ollier, Project Leader in the
TIMAC AGRO Production Department, updates
us on the project launched in 2024 to introduce
the Safety Days programme more widely.
Why do TIMAC AGRO sites hold Safety Days?
Some countries are already used to holding in-house
events that highlight safety issues over a single day
or, in some cases, an entire week. But we thought it
would be useful to adopt a more systematic approach
by encouraging them to schedule safety chat sessions
involving all levels of the company. The sessions have a
number of goals, including experience and best practice
sharing, communicating key messages and challenges,
and ref lecting collectively on good and not-so-good safety
performance. What’s essential here is the commitment
to hosting events that are fun and treat safety positively
to demonstrate that safety is not restrictive, but rather a
powerful lever for ensuring the best working conditions
and protecting employees physically and psychologically.
How did you develop the Safety Days programme
content?
Local safety coordinators played a central role in
organising and running these events in 2024. They
were able to use their local knowledge to set goals and
choose appropriate topics to cover. We have prioritised
our involvement on those sites that were less familiar
with this type of event, helping them to formalise their
safety needs, identify their strengths and pinpoint areas
for further improvement. This preparatory work gave the
managers concerned the basics they needed to design
and implement a varied series of workshop sessions
Camille Ollier,
Production Project
Leader
TIMAC AGRO
Safety Days drive
collective momentum
at TIMAC AGRO
adapted to local needs. Topics included improvements to
shared vigilance, greater awareness of the need for hand
protection and reminding people of the rules governing
pedestrian and vehicle traff ic.
So how would you assess this f irst year of Safety Days
coordination?
The teams who organised these events for the f irst time
very quickly understood the value of this format, so that’s
a very positive outcome to begin with. The initiative
was also fully supported by country and production
plant management teams, as well
—
of course
—
as HSE
managers. The feedback we’ve received suggests that
the short-term goals we set have been achieved. The days
helped to make safety more fun, encourage discussion
around the process of f inding solutions, and explain the
new procedures. New Safety Days will be held in 2025 to
coincide with the launch of the ‘Golden Rules’ programme,
which will mark a step change in the TIMAC AGRO
approach to safety. Road risks will also be covered in
these discussions.
“Taking a step back from safety results
and the situations encountered by
operators can be an opportunity to move
towards a more collaborative process of
reaching decisions, making it more likely
that those decisions are accepted and
applied by everyone.”
INTERVIEW
Non-Financial Performance Statement 2024 35