Mondi wins big at the PPI Awards

Mondi, a leading global packaging and paper company, has been named the winner of the risk and safety category for the second consecutive year at this year’s Fastmarkets RISI PPI Awards.

PPI stands for “pulp and paper industry” and these global awards celebrate leadership, vision, innovation and strategic accomplishments. According to Brian Darlington, group head of safety and health at Mondi, they are the only global awards dedicated to recognising the achievements of companies, mills and individuals in the PPI.

“Being recognised for this award is an honour for Mondi, as our employees’ safety and health is our top priority, and we promote a 24-hour safety mindset both at work and at home. We work hard to ensure our leaders are safety-aware, lead by example and that our people take ownership of their safety as well as that of others. We are determined to send everybody home safely, every day,” Darlington reports.

Mondi’s approach to health and safety is nothing new. “I believe we have always been a forward-thinking company and when dealing with risk and safety there is no difference today. We have continuously reduced our injuries year on year. During the past two years, we have shifted our focus from traditional safety elements, such as workspace controls (risk assessments, safe working procedures, training, physical controls, etc), to the psychological and cultural elements of risk and safety,” he explains.

“This approach includes a number of changes, including shifting some of the focus from traditional safety talks to engagement sessions, the development and use of role-play and dialogue cards, gamification as well as online and face-to-face training sessions pertaining to the social psychology of risk.”

Now that the company has won its second consecutive award, what’s next? Does Mondi hope to make it three in a row?

“Not necessarily,” says Darlington. “For us, it’s about being given the platform to share our initiatives with other companies in our common drive to provide safe and healthy working environments and learn from others who are also doing well. We want them to share our passion for sending everybody home safely, every day.”

He also stresses that this was a team effort. “This is a joint award, as our leaders and teams at all our sites work extremely hard to make the working environment at Mondi as safe as possible. Their efforts when it comes to developing the desired culture deserve to be recognised,” he says.

So, it’s a case of (hard) hats off to the entire Mondi team then! You have made your company proud and you’ve also made the PPI considerably safer.