Health and safety
A safe and healthy working environment is a top priority for NCC. We strive to eliminate serious incidents and fatal accidents and to reduce all types of accidents. This is dependent on a strong safety culture that includes everyone working at an NCC worksite. ‘Health and safety’ is one of the focus areas in NCC’s sustainability framework.
A good working environment has a profoundly positive effect on a workplace, in terms of corporate culture, productivity, health and safety. Creating and maintaining a healthy and safe working environment is therefore a fundamental prerequisite for managing the complexity of the construction process. All employees, partners, subcontractors and suppliers must act safely and always keep health and safety top of mind.
NCC’s strategic direction for health and safety focuses primarily on three identified high-risk areas: heavy crane lifting, working at height and working near and around heavy machinery. Actions are taken based on knowledge of the root causes of serious injuries. The key is to:
- plan at an early stage of the project to avoid dangerous situations
- create an awareness of how the right behavior can reduce the risk of accidents
- set up technical safety barriers for protection from the risk of an accident
Targets
NCC’s long-term objective is to reduce the total number of accidents and completely eliminate accidents with serious or fatal outcome. NCC’s target is to is to have an accident frequency rate for LTIF4 (work-related injuries resulting in more than four calendar days of absence per million hours worked) of 2.0 in 2026, with interim targets along the way.
Culture is not static, it changes. It is therefore important that we always work on behaviors and are aware of their role in creating a strong safety culture.Lars-Gunnar Larsson, Head of Health and Safety at NCC
Governance
NCC has a Group-wide occupational health and safety (OHS) policy and directive. These are integrated into the management systems of the Group and the business areas and apply to everyone working at an NCC worksite. To support effective governance, NCC works in accordance with ISO 45001. NCC’s internal health and safety organization maintains the management system. Internal audits are carried out on an ongoing basis and the units that are certified according to ISO 45001 are also audited externally.
Risk management work
Risk management and preventive work are built into NCC’s way of working. For example, a risk assessment must be carried out across the entire production worksite before production starts. The assessment must also include a safety analysis of each hazardous work elements. Fundamental to health and safety work is the process of analyzing and identifying risks based on data and statistics, so as to eliminate elements or situations that create a risk of accidents.
NCC works to ensure that all its own employees and those of subcontractors have good risk awareness. At production worksites, various work tasks must be preceded by a safety briefing. Daily safety briefings are held to make everyone aware of any risks associated with the day’s tasks, and to ensure that the risks are managed before work begins.
Health and safety reporting
All accidents, close calls, observations and incidents must be reported in NCC’s common reporting tool. This reporting promotes employee engagement in safety work, and gives the organization the opportunity to spot potential risks at an early stage and highlight best practice. Data in the incident reporting system is also used to assess risks on an overall level and to formulate joint solutions.
Training
In addition to data collection and knowledge sharing, training is crucial for systematic safety work. Before starting work at a production site, it is mandatory for all employees and subcontractors to undergo safety training. In addition to the basic training, there are worksite- and assignment-specific training courses that must be completed. NCC has also developed a digital support tool, Site introduction, which is synchronized with the access cards to the construction site to ensure that everyone on the site has the right skills. The system is currently available in Sweden and roll-out is ongoing in the other Nordic countries.
Occupational health
Organizational and psychosocial health is a risk that should be considered throughout the organization. Continuous work is underway to map and prevent mental health problems in all NCC’s operations. Occupational healthcare is provided by NCC through external healthcare providers, in accordance with each country’s social insurance system.
Work environment partnerships
NCC participates in several external forums and industry-wide initiatives that are looking to improve safety and have a positive effect on the working environment in the construction industry. Experiences are exchanged in forums such as the European network ENCORD, Håll Nollan in Sweden, and the Danish “Business Panel” collaboration at the National Research Center for the Working Environment (advisory board for the research institution).