BMMI recently held its annual Health & Safety Week, from 24-28 April, to coincide with World Health & Safety Day on 28 April.

The event included a series of initiatives to boost health and safety awareness and know-how amongst employees. Programmes included Fire Safety and First Aid training, as well as medical checkups and AIDS and Diabetes awareness seminars in conjunction with the American Mission Hospital.

”Health and safety is not only a legal obligation; it is a moral and ethical one. Hence, even in a recession, BMMI continues to update standards, purchase safety equipment and inform and train employees,” says Suttish Boodoo, Health and Safety Manager at BMMI.

“Our people are BMMI, so their wellbeing remains uncompromisingly important to us. We do not consider the health and safety of our people as a cost, but rather an extremely important investment.”

As part of this programme, the BMMI Health & Safety team also visited students at the University College of Bahrain (UCB) to conduct a two-hour safety talk.

"Health and Safety is an issue that UCB takes seriously not only on campus, but also in spreading awareness to our students who will soon be in a working environment," said Ebrahim bin Khalid Al Khalifa, Executive Director at UCB.

The objectives of the discussion included inculcating a safety-first mindset, building safety capabilities and preparing the students as future new workers to acquire basic knowledge about health and safety skills that they will carry with them in their future job.

“It is our duty as a responsible corporate citizen to educate the community and help prevent unnecessary injuries or fatalities. Every so often we read about unnecessary loss of life in the newspaper, all of which could have been prevented by taking simple safety precautions. The saying ‘precaution is better than cure’ is very true in the case of health and safety and by educating our youth we will ensure that needless accidents are prevented,” added Suttish.

Health and Safety at BMMI

Health and safety management are high priorities for responsible companies and BMMI is no exception. BMMI recognises that its operations may affect the health and safety of employees and visitors on its premises and is fully committed to following high standards of health and safety management.

BMMI health and safety management systems conform to best international practices and the Group currently maintains the OHSAS 18001:2007 certification. The company’s next step is towards achieving an Integrated Management System for Quality, Environment, Health and Safety and Food Safety.

In Safety Management, this year, BMMI has set zero accident and one million man-hours worked without any time lost to injuries as a local objective for operations, which will be extended to their other locations in the near future.

Together, BMMI and its employees are committed to making its operations safe, healthy and environmentally friendly.