October 12, 2016
Drummond participated in the category of inventiveness and won the Prize of “Leaders in Prevention 2016 of Colmena.” Thanks to an idea that came from an employee who created the project “System of safe work for the change of the steel cable of the quadruple gondola car dumpers”, based on the Industrial Safety policy of the company. The invention has both contributed to the effectiveness of the operation and at the same time has added to the mitigation of risk in the company.
The contest has three categories with the goal to acknowledge good practices in safety and health in the work place. This helps improve the worker’s quality of life, corporate productivity and the positive social impact on the communities.
Mr. Álvaro Pérez is a mechanic in charge of conveyor belts and an employee of Drummond. He is the brains behind the project that received the acknowledgement in the category ‘Leaders in Prevention’, organized by the insurance company Colmena and which took place on October 6, 2016 in the city of Cartagena.
The project referred to as “System for the change of the steel cable in the indexer of the quadruple car dumper” won in the inventiveness category; which is awarded to successful work activities within a company, members of Colmena Seguros and which stand out in the creation of a control system for the prevention of risks.
Thanks to the award, the director of the Industrial Safety Department of Port Drummond, Mr. Sergio Caballero, said: “This recognition speaks highly of the synergy that must exist between the company and its employees so that a true culture of industrial safety is kept. When this exists, it can be stated that there is trust, that there is commitment, that the company believes in its employees and that the employees dare to participate because the company listens to their proposals. This prize is also a motivation for the rest of the employees and encourages them to actively participate in the improvement of our safety practices and in the strengthening of our processes”.
The project developed a successful procedure based on the system of safe work for the changing of the steel cable of the quadruple car dumper; a system that decreases the time of exposure to mechanical risk. The maintenance time of the equipment was optimized, reducing the time in the changing of the steel cable and thus making the operation more effective.
“The purpose was to suggest a new system of safe work for the control of risks in the maintenance of a critical equipment in the loading operation of trains of the company. It is a project that works on preventing the accidents of employees and contractors”, asserted the driving force behind the project, Mr. Álvaro Pérez.
A simulator was built for the implementation of the project. The simulator has enabled development training for more than 40 mechanical technicians, which has allowed the risk mitigation to be strengthened and practiced before being implemented.
The training has enabled the analysis and comparison of how the previous system operated and how the present one performs. The outcome of said comparison proves that a change was achieved, which is of benefit to everybody, especially the employees who are directly linked to the maintenance of the equipment in the company.
After six months of work, on April 8, 2015, the first change of the steel cable of the quadruple indexer took place, which to date has been changed three times, every eight months. The procedure exceeded expectations. The time it takes to maintain the equipment was reduced from nine hours to four hours and thirty minutes.
“This prize means a lot to me, and also for all the employees, for the Industrial Safety Department and for the entire company. It is my great joy to learn that all my colleagues work in a safe environment and that the involvement to improve the safety of our team work is encouraged”, said Mr. Álvaro Pérez.
Drummond Ltd. is proud of the talent of its employees and proudly acknowledges this contribution to improving the lifestyle and the industrial safety principles that the company promotes within its daily operations.
