INSEE Cement partners NIOSH as Technical Consultancy Partner for National OS&H Excellence Awards

Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development Ravindra Samaraweera (left) and INSEE Cement Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Nandana Ekanayake exchanging the signed agreement at the Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Relations. Also in seen are (from left): INSEE Cement Colombo Operations and Terminal Health and Safety Manager Asanga Yapa, INSEE Cement Sri Lanka Communications Manager Sudashini Christopher, NIOSH Director General Dr. Champika Amarasinghe, INSEE Cement Sri Lanka Organisation and Human Resources Director Prasad Piyadigama (2nd from right) and INSEE Cement Sri Lanka Head of Health and Safety Gayan Fernando

INSEE Cement, Sri Lanka’s foremost manufacturer of cement and the Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Relations has signed a partnership agreement that will strengthen and uplift occupational safety in the country. 

The MOU, signed by the Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development Ravindra Samaraweera on behalf of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and CEO of Siam City Cement (Lanka) also known as INSEE Cement, Nandana Ekanayake is intended to contribute to socio-economic development by creating a safer and healthier environment while protecting the rights of workers and promoting productivity. This is the third consecutive time that the two organisations have signed an MOU as the Technical Consultancy Partner for National OS&H Excellence Awards 2018.

Nandana Ekanayake said, “We are pleased to support and partner with NIOSH and help raise the safety standards in the country and are confident that this relationship will continue to strengthen occupational safety further.”

Commenting further, he said, “As a leading cement industry player, we have extensive knowledge and expertise within our INSEE group of companies and look forward to being an asset to Sri Lankan industries. With this technical consultancy agreement, we are happy to share our knowledge, experience, and exposure with other industries to uplift health and safety standards at their facilities and contribute to a brighter future for Sri Lanka.”

NIOSH Director General Dr. Champika Amarasinghe said, “We are pleased to partner with INSEE Cement and extremely grateful for their support of knowledge sharing on Occupational Safety and Health. INSEE Cement have been our Technical Partners for our Excellence Awards. Over the years, with the expertise of INSEE we have increased the quality level of the applications as well as the applicants. We are looking forward to the awards ceremony this year too.” 

The partnership has resulted in developing important techniques and emulations. Each application undergoes a stringent three tier assessment process from a Desk Review as a primary stage assessment, Field Verification Visits conducted by NIOSH, a team of District Factory Inspecting Engineers, a Health and Safety member from INSEE Cement and selected Occupational Health and Safety practitioners in Sri Lanka and finally the Expert Review with the interviews conducted by a panel of judges comprising Occupational Health and Safety experts.

Winners from both ‘local’ and ‘multinational’ segments are selected with all supporting documentation and handed over to the Steering Committee for the National Occupational Safety and Health Excellence Awards. The committee is under the leadership of the Secretary of Labour and members of the Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Relations, Department of Labour, NIOSH and INSEE Cement, Sri Lanka.