This comes within days of the mishap in ArcelorMittal's Tentekskaya mine in Kazakhstan in which five miners were feared dead. ArcelorMittal said the ground-breaking global agreement was signed yesterday with trade unions namely European Metalworkers' Federation, United Steelworkers and International Metalworkers' Federation on occupational health and safety.
"It (agreement) recognizes the vital role played by trade unions in improving health and safety. It sets out minimum standards in every site the company operates in order to achieve world class performance," an ArcelorMittal release stated.
As part of the agreement, the company said it would form joint committees represented by members from the management and the unions to organise training and education programmes for a meaningful impact on health and safety across the firm.
Also included in the agreement is the creation of a similar joint committee for global health and safety, which would target group's plants and help improve health and safety performances there.
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Commenting on the tie-up, ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi N Mittal said, "This agreement will build on the important work that we have already undertaken to date. Health and safety is our number one priority and in signing this agreement we hope to set a new benchmark for the industry".