Alcoa Reports ‘Safest, Most Environmentally Efficient Year on Record’

Alcoa says 2013 was the safest, most environmentally efficient year in the company’s history, as the company cut its DART injury rate by 30 percent and reduced emissions by 3.1 million metric tons.

The Pittsburgh-based aluminum maker had no workplace fatalities in 2013, according to its 2013 Sustainability Report, and achieved year-over-year reductions in all three of its major safety metrics. Alcoa’s lost-workday rate declined by 31 percent to 0.09, its DART (days away, restricted and transfer injury) rate dropped by 30 percent to 0.35 and its total recordable incident rate declined by 8 percent to 0.98, according to the report.

The report highlights several safety and health initiatives, including Alcoa’s “Stop for Safety” program, which encourages and recognizes employees for stopping work when they observe potential hazards, and its wellness program, which the company rolled out globally in 2013 after a U.S. launch in 2012.

Among other highlights:

• At the end of 2013, 84.2 percent of Alcoa’s safety reporting units had worked 12 consecutive months without a lost workday, 49.5 percent without a DART incident and 42.4 percent without a total recordable incident.
• The company reduced its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent to 3.1 million metric tons.
• The company achieved a 24 percent reduction in landfilled waste from its 2005 baseline. Alcoa is aiming for a 75 percent reduction in landfilled waste by 2020 and a 100 percent reduction by 2030 (from the 2005 baseline).
• From 2010 to 2013, Alcoa’s employee engagement score increased from 60 to 74 percent. The company has seen year-over-year improvement in employee engagement since launching its “Global Voices” survey in 2006.

“Alcoa is a values-based company. Our values guide our work and help us accomplish our goals the right way,” Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said. “I’m incredibly proud that last year we worked safer, with less environmental impact than ever before. And while we are reducing our own footprint, our light-metal innovations are creating a more sustainable world – from greener cars and trucks to more energy-efficient planes and buildings.”