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Health and safety are absolute priorities for Lafarge. The Group has implemented a stringent safety policy for its employees and subcontractors. It also participates in public health programs that benefit both employees and local communities.

Lafarge aims to be among the safest company in the world and encourage safe behavior.

Safety: the top priority

Lafarge is the safest company in its sector. Since 2002, the Group has achieved a significant reduction in both the frequency and the gravity of work-related accidents. These improvements are due in part to the Group's Health and Safety management system, which defines the minimum safety levels required for all Lafarge sites.

A great deal remains to be done to become one of the safest industrial groups in the world. For this reason, employee safety is the Group's n°1 priority.

To reach its target of zero fatal accidents and keep lost time injuries to a minimum, Lafarge:

informs its employees and subcontractors about the risks related to their activities and provides appropriate training,
supervises the systematic application of safety standards,
implements procedures for reporting incidents and undertakes regular audits,
identifies and communicates best practices and drives their adoption across all worksites.

Lafarge intended to halve its lost-time injury rate compared to 2005, and to achieve a 1.55 rate by 2008. Since such good progress was made in 2007, the Executive Committee agreed to set a tougher target for 2009 of 1.35.

Lost time injury frequency rate (incidents of more than 1 day per million hours of work)

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Targeting zero accidents

Tula: an exemplary worksite

The construction site of the new cement plant at Tula, in Mexico, is exemplary: the lost-time injury rate was 11 times lower than the national average. "Throughout the 20 months of this construction project, 800 workers put in a total of 3 million hours. We applied the principle of zero tolerance in safety matters", said Maximo Dolman, managing director of Lafarge Mexico from 1999 to January 2006. "We had to mobilize local subcontractors, who often take a relaxed approach to safety, and encourage them to change their mindset."

Testimonial

Dyfrig James, Managing Director of Aggregates in the United Kingdom, discusses safety
"In the Group, everyone is encouraged to speak up about safety. Lafarge has set up a reporting process to facilitate dialog. For example, producing reports on dangerous or unsecure actions helps to improve safety performance and the sharing of best practices."

Supporting work-related health for all employees

The Group’s golden rules

Health and safety: top priority
All Lafarge employees are committed to respecting certain rules to ensure the greatest levels of health and safety within the company.

The availability of suitable tools and the deployment of preventive principles have produced positive results: work-related illnesses are rare.

Lafarge is not complacent about the good results it has achieved. As part of Sustainability Ambitions, Lafarge is going to establish a comprehensive occupational health program by 2010, with regular medical exams for all of its employees. In February 2009, a doctor was hired to undertake this task.

The fight against HIV/Aids and malaria

Lafarge has first-hand experience of the ravages caused by HIV/Aids and malaria, particularly in the sub-Saharan countries where it operates. The Group quickly became involved in efforts to prevent and treat the illness with the support of specialized doctors and organizations such as the Care. Lafarge is also a member of the Global Business Coalition, which works to fight HIV/Aids and malaria.

As a result, in 2008, in sub-Saharan Africa where Lafarge employs around 8,000 people (almost 10&percnt; of its employees):

100&percnt; of employees have received regular information about H.I.V.,
75&percnt; have participated in voluntary, anonymous screening campaigns,
2,000 people (employees, dependants and community members) have benefited from free anti-retroviral treatment.

The anti-malaria program began in 2006. In 2007, Lafarge provided malaria treatment for 17,500 people (employees, dependants, sub-contractors and community members).

By 2010, these efforts against HIV and malaria will be extended to the other major developing countries where Lafarge operates.

Sub-Saharan HIV roadmap actions - 2008 Report

Sub-Saharan malaria roadmap actions - 2008 Report

Malaria and AIDS at Lafarge

Key figures

In sub-Saharan Africa, at Lafarge, malaria is a cause of a third of absenteeism and of 20 to 30&percnt; of the health budget. 20,000 cases are treated each year in our clinics. And AIDS has resulted in the deaths of 135 employees since 2000...

Promoting public health programs

A "Health" Guide collecting the best practices in Africa has been produced, with contributions from Lafarge partners, Care and GBC. It will be completed in 2009 and distributed internally as part of Ambitions 2012. The aim is to take the example of Africa and extend methods used to fight AIDS and malaria to health challenges faced in all 79 countries in which Lafarge operates.

A few examples...

In Indonesia, the Group has established a medical service for inhabitants of the village near the Lafarge site of Lhoknga. This service, in partnership with 2 government institutions, provides medical visits and distributes drugs. On average, 120 to 160 people take advantage of these services when the clinic makes its weekly visit.
In India, Lafarge has joined other companies to set up an eye clinic at Raipur, in the state of Chattisgarh, and 3 mobile dispensaries to serve local communities.

Intensifying employee security
Employee security in so-called "risky" countries is also a priority. Lafarge is stepping up its protection of people and assets by: reinforcing security measures for site access, optimizing procurement and storage processes for explosives on the Group's sites.