OREANDA-NEWS. Enel Chairman Paolo Andrea Colombo and Enel CEO and General Manager Fulvio Conti today inaugurated the 2013 International Health and Safety Week at the Company's Auditorium in Rome. The Enel initiative, now in its sixth year, seeks to promote workplace health and safety as a daily commitment for all Group employees and its contractors.

The opening day was attended by Giorgio Squinzi, President of Confindustria, the Italian Industry Association, and by Paolo Pennesi, General Secretary of the Italian Ministry of Labour.

Over the last 5 years, Enel has reduced the workplace accident frequency rate by 52% and the severity index by 17%, with a decrease of 80% in the number of serious and fatal accidents, among Enel personnel and contractor companies.

“Worker safety”, stated Paolo Andrea Colombo, Enel Chairman, ”is not only an ethical and social imperative, it also has an equally important economic dimension, because it contributes to ensuring the success and sustainability of enterprises and, in the long-term, the development of economies. Workplace health and safety should therefore be a benchmark value for the business community and the country as a whole, to be pursued not only through compliance with rules and regulations, but also through information, prevention and, as in any family, with common sense in our everyday actions.”

“These achievements”, stated Fulvio Conti, Enel CEO and General Manager, “are the result of our ongoing commitment to disseminating a culture of health and safety at work in all of the countries in which we operate. In Enel, workplace health and safety are strategic factors for the integration, efficiency and improvement of company performance. We will be satisfied only when this will be translated into not having any accident at all. Our target is to become and remain a 'Zero Accident' company: all colleagues and contractors must know that we are fully dedicated to everyone's health and well being.”

In 2012, Enel's financial commitment to health and safety activities (training and information, health monitoring, the purchase and management of personal safety equipment, fire protection and medical units, studies and research) totaled over 72 million euros, in line with the previous year's trend. In particular, the company made a major commitment to education, information and training, with more than 1,145,000 hours of training delivered in 2012.

The results achieved in the safety field have been recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the first global index to track the performance of companies displaying leadership in sustainability: in 2013 Enel and Endesa were recognized as best in class in the “Occupational Health and Safety” category, ranking at the top among electric utilities worldwide.

Enel also received the 2013 “Corporate Safety Award” established by Confindustria and Inail, an award that promotes the spread of a culture of safety and innovation in businesses and disseminates the best practices of companies that stand out for their effective commitment to continuous improvement in health and safety.

Participants in the round table discussion on the theme of “safety at the center of the workplace” included Massimo De Felice, President of Inail, Italy's Workers Compensation Authority; Raffaele Bonanni, Secretary General of Italian Trade Union CISL; Fabrizio Solari, Secretary at Italian Trade Union CGIL; Luigi Angeletti, Secretary General of Italian Trade Union UIL; Salomone Gattegno, President of the Confidustria Technical Committee for Safety, and Alda Paola Baldi, Head of Health and Safety, Enel Group.

During the event, writer Paolo Giordano read “The 'Matryoshka Doll' of Responsibility” a text written on the occasion of the International Health and Safety Day.

This year, Enel is also continuing implementation of the “One Safety” project to improve Group Health & Safety standards. The project focuses on strengthening safety leadership and the adoption of safe behaviour. The project involves all Enel employees and Group contractors in promoting a coordinated and synergistic effort. All this has led to the implementation of a unified Group-level strategy (while at the same time taking account of the individual circumstances) to pursue the path of continuous improvement towards achieving the goal of zero accidents.

The initiative boasts a crowded calendar of more than 1,200 events dedicated to the theme of safety and health, which will involve the nearly 73,000 employees working in the 40 countries in which the Group operates as well as Enel's contractors. During the day, the Safety Awards ceremony recognised best practices aimed at achieving the zero accidents goal, with testimonials from the employees involved.