New safety record at Arapoti Mill

Lucinei Damalio, Mill Manager, Arapoti Mill, Stora Enso Brazil.

Stora Enso’s Arapoti Mill in Brazil has set a new record in safety; the mill has reached 953 working days, without lost time, beating another safety record.

The former record was in 2003, when the mill achieved 952 days. "Moreover the record, there has been constant measures to reduce incidents at the mill and make people aware of the real value of safety,” says Lucinei Damalio, Mill Manager.

The low accident rates at the Arapoti Mill are the outcome of long-term safety training. In the beginning this meant improving employee behaviour and changing attitudes. It is crucial that everyone understands the importance of safety, not only for own employees but also for contractors providing services.

Key practical tools for managing safety at Arapoti have been regular safety meetings and daily discussions about safety. "Arapoti is a large mill and therefore all the safety measures have to be systematic and integrated into our daily procedures. Besides the training, the company provides safety tools that help us to develop our activities with safety. In the "Safety Observation”, we observe behavior and safe or unsafe activity of our colleagues; and finally "Preventive Safety Actions”, which is used to point out and eliminate risks in the workstation. It is the employee’s duty to put them in practice," says Lucinei.

"Each one of us is aware that there are risks in our working area, and we are responsible for the safety of all. The employees personal commitment is what counts – you are responsible for your own safety as well as for the safety of your colleague. Therefore it is essential that we all know the rules and apply them in our daily work,” Lucinei concludes.

Arapoti Mill is located 450 km from São Paulo in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. The mill’s 360 employees work in modern and clean facilities where safety reminders can be seen everywhere. Arapoti Mill produces 180 000 tonnes of magazine paper per year, around 90% of which is sold in the Brazilian market. It is the only mill in the Southern Hemisphere manufacturing coated magazine paper.