The Alcoa aluminum smelter in Baie-Comeau qualifies as one of the most efficient on a global scale at Alcoa. Two promising projects in safety and the environment have earned it great recognition.
As part of the Alcoa Health, Safety and Environment awards for 2023, Baie-Comeau earned first place, jointly with the Lista plant in Norway.
Two initiatives from the factory caught the attention of the jury.
Teamwork
In terms of safety, the Baie-Comeau plant has developed teamwork to eliminate interactions between pedestrians and vehicles.
The goal is to eliminate at source the number of interactions in a foundry sector.
The presence of industrial vehicles and their interactions with workers on foot constitute in fact one of the critical risks identified at the factory.
There are more than 20 unionized employees and managers who collaborated in identifying risks, researching and implementing the solutions chosen.
Revalorization of residues
On the environmental side, Alcoa Baie-Comeau aims for better segregation of residues.
Seventeen employees from all sectors of the plant pitched in to achieve the objective of maximizing the recovery of certain residues.
The initiative made it possible to reduce the quantity of waste that will have to be buried, in order to significantly improve the environmental record of the factory.