Occupational health and safety is the first thing that comes to mind in World Class Manufacturing (WCM) management model. The occupational health and safety practices Tofaş conducts under FCA set an example for other companies. As a result, many international and local companies, as well as public institutions visit our factory to observe our occupational health and safety practices on site.

Matters falling under the scope of occupational health and safety are managed by Occupational Safety and Fire Safety Office, which reports to the Directorate of Health and Occupational Safety. Our processes are supported with Tofaş OHS Policy, WCM Occupational Safety Standard, ISO 45001, OHSAS 18001, FCA Occupational Safety Standards, and Tofaş Contractor Management methodologies.

We embrace World Class Proactive and Simple Occupational Safety approach in occupational health and safety practices. Our objective is to turn sustainable occupational safety culture into a norm with the help of our safe working areas and employees behaving safely, while also protecting all human resources within the boundaries of our plant from injuries and impairment of health.

İstanbul and Bursa branches of Tofaş successfully passed field and document checks performed under Integrated Certification Audit for ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 standards, which were conducted remotely considering the status quo.

As a result of this audit, we received our new certificate for ISO 45001:2018 standard, an advanced version of OHSAS 18001:2007 standard. ISO 45001 standard specifically focuses on the following issues: leadership of management, management of risks and opportunities likely to affect the management system, understanding the expectations of employees and relevant parties, ensuring participation and making sure that relevant parties are consulted, OHS risks associated with contractors, and management of change.  

“We have improved Lost Time Accident (LTA) frequency by 96% since 2006 when we initiated our World Class Occupational Safety activities.”

Occupational Health and Safety Training and Practices

We organized training programs to raise awareness among both our employees and our contractors’ employees regarding occupational health and safety, and through various practices we made sure that occupational health and safety culture took root and was embraced by greater number of people.

“In 2020, we provided 4201 Tofaş employees with 35,184 person*hour training on occupational health and safety, and offered 1306 person*hour training to 1741 employees working at our contractors.”

Occupational Safety Simulation Training Area (DOJO)	Our intention is to inform our employees on work-related risks through equipment installed and stations simulated. In 2020, we provided 14,004 man*hour DOJO training.
Virtual Reality (VR) Inspection Certification	We desire to measure our employees’ capability to identify risks in the field, and to bring them to the same level. Within the scope of this practice, employees perform audits in a 3D virtual medium, which contains a section of a real production area where certain types of non-conformances exist. The risks identified are scored, and employees reaching a threshold are approved as auditors.
Contractor Management Procedure	Instructions are created to proactively supervise the works done by the contractors, to establish and reinforce all rules before the start of the work, and finally to perform audits.
Occupational Safety Forum Theater and Drama Training	They are interactive training methods used to prevent unsafe behavior and to strengthen occupational safety culture. They ensure that employees join a play in order to have a learning experience on occupational safety.
Attention and Perception Test (Vienna Test)	The test measures attention, perception, concentration and motor skills of construction machine operators, maintenance staff, quality control staff and test drivers.
Occupational Safety Captain	Within the scope of this practice, production teams made up of 8 to 15 field staff assume responsibility for occupational safety for two weeks. Captains wear special caps and arm bands during their assignment. They perform their own work while observing potential non-conformances and unsafe behaviors in the workplace.
Occupational Safety Painting Competition	The occupational safety painting contest organized annually to support occupational safety culture aims to reach out to the employees’ children. We invite children participating in the contest and their families to the plant, and give them various prizes. Their paintings are exhibited at the factory.
Team Streamers	We put up occupational safety streamers in work areas of production teams to encourage zero accident. A blue streamer is displayed in case of no occupational accident, and an orange one is used to indicate that there has been an accident.

Covid-19 Pandemic

During the pandemic, which was full of uncertainties, we took protective measures and adopted innovative practices to protect our employees’ health and to help them and their families go through this process more smoothly.

In line with our goals, we established our Pandemic Committee before announcement of cases in Turkey, with the aim of protecting our target group, including our office and field personnel, personnel in the risk group, families of our personnel, and personnel working with our sub-contractors, and took required measures for our personnel who worked or travelled abroad. Accordingly, communication studies were conducted, and hygiene-related measures were taken. When cases began to be reported in Turkey, we took following actions taking into consideration the views and recommendations of Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health Scientific Committee and our on-site physicians, while constantly monitoring the needs and expectations of our employees.

Covid Captain

Thanks to our captaincy system, we adapted our proactive occupational safety approach and culture into the pandemic. As part of the project, a remote training was organized and reports were prepared.

Upon attending the training, our field personnel took weekly turns, conducted audits, and prepared reports using the pandemic checklist we prepared, which created a self-audit structure in the field. Our results indicate that 90% of pandemic-related insecure behaviors were eliminated within the first three months of the pandemic. Furthermore, thanks to our employees’ autonomous observations and reports, we were able to create a robust pandemic culture.

Since we were able to provide our employees with a safe working environment and eliminate their pandemic-related insecure behaviors, our employees managed to overcome their anxiety and stress.

Healthcare Services

• In addition to all the health measures taken in the production areas, we started to apply the 2.5 meter distance rule.
• In March, we were one of the first companies in Turkey to use thermal camera and thermometer scanning at our entrance to detect possible cases.
• We re-modeled our Healthcare Center in accordance with the social distance rules.
• We began using “Daily Health Status Assessment Questionnaire” to monitor possible cases.
• HES codes (a personal code indicating user’s current health status) of all personnel and sub-contractors were recorded, and the codes are being checked periodically and automatically using a special program.
• Adequate number of protective equipment, including masks, face shields, and gloves, were procured to be used in the work place, and mask disposal bins were installed to safely dispose of the equipment after use.
• First, our personnel in the risk group, i.e. those who were pregnant or on their maternity leave, and those with chronic illnesses, then female personnel who had young children between the ages of 4 and 10, and finally all suitable office personnel were provided with the opportunity to work remotely.
• Thinking that there might be problems with finding a bed in hospitals in Turkey, five CPAP devices (breathing apparatus) were procured and our on-site physicians were trained to use them with the aim of being able to provide our personnel, who tested positive for Covid-19 and who might experience respiratory distress, with highly oxygenized air at home until finding a place in hospital.
• We began using Rapid Antigen Tests to assess suspicious cases detected by our physicians at our Healthcare Center.
• Data including the number of cases and quarantined patients are effectively monitored on a daily basis using a special program.

Social Benefits

• During the curfew, free BeIN CONNECT memberships were given as a gift to our employees for four months in three different packages.
• Furthermore, we tried to motivate and uplift our personnel with online activities they attended at the comfort of their homes, as well as with challenges and social media posts; and our social clubs were active in online platforms.
• Our employees enjoyed Koç Group Sports Club’s online sports activities, as well as free meditation, reading, and sports activities initiated by Koç Ailem.
• We provided our personnel with online diet services to avoid weight problems associated with being at home all the time.
• Our face-to-face psychological counseling service, provided within the scope of employee support programs, was transferred to an online platform.
• We gave free tablet computers to our employees’ children, who attended distance education courses.
• Our Recreational Facility pleased its visitors with hygienic services provided at a time when people who wanted to eat their meals out could not find safe and hygienic places. In our periodically-disinfected facilities, bread, salt & pepper, and silverware are presented in disposable packages, napkins are sterilized, and our visitors use the 2D barcode on their silverware package to see the menu.
• Online seminars were organized with a special focus on psychology.
• An online guided tour to Tofaş Anatolian Cars Museum was organized.
• Health, education, and daily life-related contents were shared in our internal communication channels to help our employees spend their time effectively.
• Ramadan packages were delivered to our employees earlier than planned in a contact-free manner, making us happy to please our employees.

Financial Support

• In the months our employees worked shorter hours, İŞKUR (Turkish Employment Agency) paid “Short-time Working Allowance”, and when it failed to compensate their net incomes we covered the balance, paying their full salary on time.
• We put into practice Epidemic Financial Aid.
• We deferred cooperative-related payments for three months.