On 18 August, Danone Research & Innovation celebrated the fact that it has been five years without lost time incidents at its innovation centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands (or previously in the R&D centre in Wageningen). This milestone was possible thanks to the efforts of all employees to keep workplace safety top of mind. This mindset is supported by an extensive Health, Safety and Environment program throughout the Danone organisation.
Lost time incidents are tracked as a measure of the effectiveness of safety policies and their implementation. Lost time incidents are accidents during working hours that are serious enough to keep an employee from being able to work the next (working)day. In the past five years, there were some near misses and other safety and health issues. By retaining the emphasis on safety, Danone Research & Innovation aims to further reduce the number of minor incidents and expand its record for the number of days without a lost time incident, because health and safety are worth the extra attention.