OREANDA-NEWS. January 22, 2008. UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, announced that Victoria Petrova, head of the company’s HR Directorate, has been appointed co-chair of the Safety Committee of the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). This appointment provides UC RUSAL with a real opportunity to contribute its extensive experience to the aluminium industry and take its place as one of the leaders of safety initiatives.

UC RUSAL’s Aluminium Division was recently certified as complying with the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHAS) Specification 18001. Certification was carried out by the Norwegian audit company Det Norske Veritas (DNV).
 
The IAI Safety Committee focuses on safety and accident prevention in the industry providing a forum to discuss safety and accident prevention issues as well as sharing “best practice” to enhance opportunities for improvement across all areas of safety and the working environment.  Specific activities of the committee include improving the IAI Accident Reporting System, identifying risks and developing specific initiatives, including voluntary guidelines, to address industry hazards. 

UC RUSAL’s HR Directorate has extensive experience of implementing a wide selection of safety and accident prevention best practices to offer its international colleagues providing the committee with good insights into the behaviour of industry members, assisting the establishment of higher industry standards, contributing to development and deployment of the next set of safety guidelines and introducing workable safety indices.  In particular, UC RUSAL’s unique practices and the successful results of implementing large scale production safety and environmental programs at the world’s largest aluminium smelters in Bratsk and Krasnoyarsk are of special interest to the international aluminium community. Dr. Petrova has already proposed a process to improve the effectiveness of leaner management and production systems.

Commenting on the appointment, Victoria Petrova commented: “It is important for UC RUSAL as the world’s largest aluminium producer to take a proactive part in setting the benchmark in safety and accident prevention thus making the safety of employees – both at work and during the leisure time – a key priority for all the industry members. We hope that our contribution will help to develop specific initiatives leading to voluntary guidelines all around the world.”  

The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) is the global forum of the world's aluminium producers. The Institute has 26 Member companies and they are represented on the IAI Board of Directors by their CEO's. Together, the IAI Member Companies are represented for more than 70% of world primary aluminium production.