Safety & Health

U. S. Steel coined the mantra “Safety First” well over a century ago, and ever since we have been deeply committed to the health and safety of everyone who works in our facilities.

Today we are more determined than ever to continue transforming what has traditionally been one of the most hazardous industries in all of manufacturing into one in which all our employees are well protected. The future of steel must be one that is safe for all.

Safety and health are in our DNA. Whether it’s our leadership promoting safety as a core value, or all our employees looking out for the well-being of their co-workers, we strive to maintain a zero-harm culture. We engage all our employees in taking responsibility for their own safety, and accountability for the safety of others. And we empower them with the training and resources needed to assess, reduce and eliminate hazards and risks in the work environment. Because of our focus on building a culture of safety, and the active role our employees play in every aspect of our Safety Management System (SMS), we were able to operate all our facilities without a single fatality in 2024.

U. S. Steel receives many surveys and benchmarking requests from customers about our safety culture, protocols, visibility, tracking and management system to assess safety and industrial hygiene processes. The reality is that productive and financially successful companies are safe companies.

A wide range of practices and resources stand behind our ability to maintain a safe workplace in an industry that has historically been considered one of the most hazardous. We empower our employees through ongoing investments in safety training and tools, ensuring they are focused on hazard identification and the use of control measures to eliminate or reduce risk. And we continually refine our safety protocols. Our Safety Management System (SMS), too, is a key element of our safety infrastructure. We launched our first formal SMS in 2019, enabling us to gain safety data that has proven invaluable in identifying opportunities to further advance our safety efforts.

We continued to find ways in 2024 to improve the gathering, analyzing and leveraging of our safety data. We are taking greater advantage of our mobile-phone-based application that allows supervisors to participate in safety conversations in the field and enter safety data on dashboards that are used to monitor plant performance and set targets at a granular level. Our Safety Recordkeeping System provides a more effective way to track the status of corrective actions from initiation to closure.

Our commitment to safety is evident at every level of our company. Our President and CEO, Dave Burritt, has served on the National Safety Council’s Board of Directors for the past four years, providing leadership, insights and guidance in support of the Council’s mission to eliminate the leading causes of preventable work-related injuries and fatalities. In addition, our Vice President and Chief Safety & Security Officer, Robert Rudge Jr., serves as a Council delegate to assist in formulating position papers and policy statements on safety.

We are quick to share our safety insights with others, and to learn from them as well. We partner with the United Steelworkers union on safety practices and programs, and our safety team continually collaborates with the World Steel Association, exchanging information and ideas relating to injury trends, incident reduction techniques and fatality prevention.

We remain committed to safety and will never stop striving for improvement.


Our leaders ensure that safety processes are integrated into our day-to-day operations and consistently emphasize the importance of working safely. We partner with the United Steelworkers on safety practices and programs, and our managers lead by example daily. As part of our commitment, we train employees in hazard identification and the use of control measures to eliminate or reduce risk.

Our President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), David Burritt, has served on the National Safety Council’s board of directors for the past four years, providing leadership, insights and guidance in support of the council’s mission to eliminate the leading causes of preventable work-related injuries and fatalities. In addition, our Vice President and Chief Safety & Security Officer, Robert Rudge Jr., serves as a council delegate to assist in formulating position papers and policy statements on safety. The U. S. Steel safety team continually collaborates and exchanges information and ideas with the World Steel Association relating to injury trends, incident reduction techniques and fatality prevention.