Sanand Employees Win President’s Health And Safety Awards

Ford recently honoured Sanand Vehicle Assembly and Engine Plant (SVAEP) employees with President’s Health and Safety Awards (PHSA) for their contributions to safety, health and wellness in the workplace. In attendance was Bill Russo, vice president, manufacturing, Ford Asia Pacific, to present the awards to these dedicated team members.

Kenneth Minielly, William Russo, Baskaran Murugesa Pandian, Dhiraj Dixit and members of the SVAP PE Team accepting the global Excellence in Health award for providing SVAEP with 24/7 clean drinking water.

The annual awards ceremony recognizes individuals and teams who demonstrate a passion for making Ford a safer place to work. This year, more than 30 teams and individuals submitted their applications for nomination. Of these, four winners were selected, including a safe drinking water initiative, a safety operations milestone, as well as two instances of emergency actions taken for a colleague in need.

Everyday Clean Drinking Water

The Excellence in Health award went to the Plant Engineering Environment Control team out of the Sanand Vehicle Assembly and Engine Plant,  who successfully implemented a facility that provides 24/7 clean drinking water to the plant’s employees.

The water treatment facility is currently capable of processing 100 bottles of clean water per hour, using five-micron rated filters, UV light treatment and an ozoniser for disinfection. Water bottles – and the facilities themselves – are continuously tested and monitored to ensure optimal capacity and water quality. Since the facility opened, drinking water complaints have plummeted, from 122 in  July to just seven in November of 2015.

Safety Milestone

A Special Contribution award was presented to the Body Constructions Closure team in Sanand for their dedication to safety, compliance, education and a zero injury mind-set. These factors have allowed the team to achieve a streak of days without fatality or serious injury lasting more than 2.5 years.

The Sanand facilities spread across more than 72,000 square-meters with 95 percent process automation. The team also comprises 103 members, and since the streak began, has been responsible various phases of construction, construction of facilities, commissioning of equipment and tool try out, making the streak all the more impressive.

Emergency Support

Four team members from SVAEP won Life Saving and Emergency Response awards for helping a co-worker or member of the community in their time of need.

Falgun Bhatt, senior engineer, and Chirag Chadola, engineer, came to the aid of a fellow employee when he was experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack. Unable to speak clearly, and reporting that he was losing strength in his hands, Falgun and Chirag acted  quickly and took  their colleague to  the occupational health centre for evaluation.

Throughout the evaluation period, Falgun and Chirag helped keep the colleague’s family, as well as the Ford HR department aware of his condition. Thanks to Falgun and Chirag’s quick actions, their colleague was able to make a full recovery in less than a week.

Vikas Patankar, safety engineer, and Jaydeepsinh Gohil, safety risk assessor, faced a similar situation, when one to of their colleagues was in distress over the phone. Upon finding his location of their colleague, who appeared to be in serious need of medical attention, Vikas and Jaydeepsinh rushed him to the nearest hospital.

Upon admittance to the hospital, Doctors were able to diagnose Vikas and Jaydeepsinh’s colleague with hemiplegia, which led to ischemic stroke, affecting his ability to move his arms and legs on one side of his body. Following treatment, Vikas and Jaydeepsinh stayed through the night with their colleague, as his family was more than 100 km away in Delhi.

Whether it’s on the job safety or helping a fellow employee in need, the teams at SVAEP continue to demonstrate the One Ford philosophy, and the importance of keeping one another safe.