– The Chilean Safety Association (ACHS) highlighted the results obtained after the audit carried out on the Safety and Health Management System of the salmon-fishing company Blumar.
After an extensive audit carried out between August and November 2023 by the Chilean Safety Association (ACHS) of Blumar’s Occupational Health and Safety Management System (SGSST), the mutual society recertified the system in all of the salmon fishing company’s facilities.
Eduardo Lillo, ACHS Coordinator for Blumar, praised the high level of compliance, highlighting that “the percentages obtained are not common in the audit processes that ACHS carries out on its affiliated companies. Today it is demonstrated with this recertification that Blumar is well above the range of the different companies that are working in the field, in terms of Occupational Safety and Health.”
The evaluation established that Blumar has an adequate structure for the implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, this is because the organization has already internalized the 5 structural pillars of a SGSST, based on the guidelines provided by the International Labor Organization, that is, it complies with Policy, Organization, Planning, Evaluation and Action for Improvements.
The deputy manager of Sustainability, Safety and Occupational Health, Felipe Hormazábal, highlighted the commitment of the different areas to successfully carry out the work plan regarding S&SO, and referred to the next challenges, indicating that “Safety is a job of continuous improvement, of being permanently attentive, which is why we challenge ourselves to strengthen our management system and, on the other hand, lower our indicators in accident rate and accident rate within the company by 2024.”
The Manager of Fishing Operations at Blumar, José Ocares, emphasized that “we must move forward to make the work on the ground visible, carry out a survey and a permanent review to verify that safety standards at work are being comply and developed permanently, through a safety culture that allows us to reach a result that we dream of, that is to have zero accidents, which we believe is achievable over time.”
Pierre Chlipalski, head of the Blumar Salmon Plant, assured that “safety is an integral part of our production process and has had very important growth in recent times. We have a permanent industrial safety team that supports us with the ACHS, which has allowed all the people in the plant to consider occupational safety and health as part of the process and putting it as a priority at all times.”
Finally, the head of occupational health and safety at Salmones Blumar for the Los Lagos and Aysén regions, Marco Ojeda, positively valued the percentages with which recertification was achieved in the Farming area and stated that “Thanks to these results we strengthen our management system, once again reinforcing our preventive culture in Farming. Now the focus is on reducing our accident rates and making safety a value.”
The audit process concluded with 100% compliance in the fishing area, the Salmon plant in Talcahuano, the administrative facilities in Puerto Montt and Aysén, as well as its farming centers. For its part, Salmones Blumar Magallanes achieved 97% compliance. Figures that ratify the permanent commitment to the safety and health of the company’s employees.
