Safety & Health

Attaining a sustainable,
zero-harm culture is our goal

The steel industry has long been one of the most hazardous in manufacturing, which is why U. S. Steel coined the mantra “Safety First” around 1908. At U. S. Steel, we have a longstanding commitment to the health and safety of everyone who works in our facilities. Our goal is to maintain a sustainable, zero-harm culture that is supported by leadership and owned by an engaged and highly skilled workforce.

We empower our employees with the capabilities and resources needed to assess, reduce and eliminate workplace risks and hazards, and we appreciate their dedication to safety. It is because of this singular focus we were able to operate all of our facilities without a single fatality in 2022.

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 reduce risk.

At U. S. Steel, safety and health are built into the DNA of how we do business. Our leaders continually promote safety as our primary core value. Every single employee takes personal accountability for their safety and looks out for the well-being of their co-workers. Our leadership team emphasizes working safely daily, and we empower our employees to play an active role in every aspect of our Safety Management System (SMS).

In 2022, we implemented a robust quarterly health check process, where we monitored the effectiveness of our SMS in every part of our organization. We also took the opportunity to get more employees actively involved in the planning and execution of our SMS performance evaluations. In addition to quarterly health checks, every plant underwent a corporate SMS audit to determine if it met the internal continuous improvement targets set in 2021.

360° SAFETY APPROACH

Our 360° Safety approach focuses on physical and psychological safety in our facilities to help us take a more holistic approach to safety. We are working to improve psychological safety by taking a “See Something – Say Something – Do Something” approach.

In 2022, U. S. Steel earned the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 45001 certification for its Great Lakes Works and Košice (USSK) facilities, more than a year ahead of schedule. ISO 45001 specifies health and safety standards to help reduce incidents in the workplace and guides employers on their use. The Mon Valley Works, BRS and Gary Works plants are on track to achieve ISO certification in 2023, followed closely by our Minnesota Ore Operations and Tubular Operations.

We will never stop working to make our employees safer. As we continue to gather more safety data, we believe it will give us exponentially better insights on how to keep improving our training efforts, identify and reduce risks and increase workforce engagement.