safety

Safety at work and on the road has always been one of Colas' major concerns: any business that cares about its human capital has a duty to actively look out for the physical safety of its employees. We therefore expend substantial effort to protect the health and safety of our people and ensure that awareness-raising activities also benefit employees' loved ones and civil society as a whole.

Safety at work

Both the frequency and the severity of injuries is steadily diminishing, although significant improvements can and must be made upon current levels. This encouraging performance is down to the implementation of dedicated actions (safety audits, site safety briefings, accident cause trees, inter-business safety challenges, dedicated prevention courses, etc.) and the commitment of more than a thousand prevention managers.

Almost one-third of employees around the world (19,950 staff) are trained in first aid. This exceptionally high level of commitment meets three objectives:
1. The presence of a first aid officer at each worksite can limit the consequences of a workplace accident.
2. An employee trained in emergency response is better able to appropriate and spread a culture of prevention.
3. Since there are not enough people trained in first aid in society at large, Colas is helping to improve the situation by providing an additional contingent, whether in the more hazardous environment of public highways or in their personal and family lives.

Our thinking and actions have been expanded to cover the entire spectrum of health and safety in the workplace, and thereby include issues related to working conditions in general, addictions (alcohol, tobacco, drugs), but also psychosocial risks (stress, etc.)

Road safety for employees...

Colas is the leading road maintenance and construction company, with more than 27,000 vehicles worldwide: we therefore have a duty to work to reduce the scourge of road accidents. For example, the Group renewed its Road Safety Charter, signed in France in 1997, for the third time in 2009, and we have also renewed our commitment to the European Charter signed in 2005. The significant reduction in accidents is a result of road safety and safe driving awareness-raising campaigns, Scope road safety training (delivered to more than 30,000 employees in total) and the fitting of appropriate equipment to vehicles (front-view mirrors, reversing aids, onboard cameras, etc.). This decline in the number of accidents not only benefits Colas' drivers while they are at work: it also applies to their personal driving habits and benefits their families and other road users.

... and road users

Colas also develops and uses products that help reduce the number of road accidents. For example, Colgrip® high-friction surfacing reduces braking distances by 40%. In addition, according to the Association française des sociétés d'autoroute (French Federation of Highway Operators), there have been no recorded cases of vehicles leaving the road on sections treated with Colmat® high-friction surfacing.

By the very nature of its activities - installing and maintaining road safety and signaling equipment, and manufacturing and installing road-marking products - the mission of our Aximum subsidiary is to constantly improve road safety. Aximum has recently developed new road safety devices for visually impaired people.