Lost Time Accident Rate (LTAR)

 

Novartis reports work related injuries or illnesses among its associates that have occurred during the year of reporting. The Novartis LTAR is considered as a universal Key Performance Indicator enabling direct comparison between the performance of Novartis units and country organizations.

In 2007, the LTAR for continuing operations at Novartis was further reduced, to 0.42 per 200'000 hours, from 0.45 the previous year.

 

 

Basis of achievement

The main reason for progress in injury and illness reduction has been management attention and rigorous application of safety systems and procedures, combined with ongoing training for associates.

This is supported by several measures to promote safety awareness. Among others, four key measures were implemented in 2007. These were:

• Walkthrough inspections with senior managers on site
• HSE training targeted at 0.1-0.5% of total hours worked yearly, depending on work area
• Percentage of completed items on incident investigation related to total number of recommendations
• Near misses reported at least 5-10 to 1 versus actual incidents

A number of units have introduced safety culture initiatives (i.e. behavior based safety programs) to complement existing measures that provide the backbone for the ongoing detailed safety management at sites.

In depth risk analysis, in accordance with the Zurich Hazard Analysis (ZHA) method, is fundamental to Novartis operations and contributes substantially to the prevention of releases and spills.

 

Fatalities

Fatalities in Novartis have occurred in recent years due to traffic accidents of sales-representatives. However, in 2007 there were no work-related fatalities at all.

Novartis recognizes the importance of safety at work, even when the person is on the road for Novartis. A comprehensive driver safety campaign with clear guidance on how to reduce the total number of traffic related accidents was  introduced during 2007 at some pilot locations with Novartis major fleet forces (e.g. USA, Spain and Mexico), and will be further rolled-out in 2008.