Connects - Solvay€¦ · Solvay employees should all now have been trained on the new Solvay Code of Conduct which reminds us of the guiding principles to follow when confronted

Spring 2015Nº 32

Magazine of the Solvay Group

in the UK

Code of Conduct

Solvay Life Saving Rules

Solar Impulse Applications

Connects

Spring has sprung!

Communications Manager: Martin Griffiths. Magazine Editor: Julie Hitchin. Lostock Co-ordinator: Julie Evans. Specialty Polymers Co-ordinator: Helen Plant. Novecare Co-ordinator: Andrew Baud. Contributors: Jean-François Berthiaume, Cathy Booth, Frédéric Bouchat, Valérie Braut, Melvin Dawes, Paul Fuller, Keith Higgins, Erica Kornijenko, Guillaume Peron, Taunya Renson, Joanne Risley & The Walton Centre, Len Sharpe, Vic Walters, Peter Webster. Design Layout: Paula Vickers Limited. Contact us at: Solvay Connects, Solvay House, Baronet Road, Warrington WA4 6HA E-mail address: [email protected] Website addresses: www.solvay.com and www.solvay.co.uk

Magazine of the Solvay Group in the UK. Quarterly nº 32 Spring 2015

Welcome

3 Manufacturing Excellence

4 Code of Conduct

5 Warrington

6 Halifax

7 Oldbury

Cover

An air operated control valve on the PB05 plant at Halifax

8 GBU ID Card

9 Innoplace Idea Box

10 Solvay Life Saving Rules

12 Electronics 14 Occupational Health

edito

rial

Hello and welcome to the spring edition of Solvay Connects, the magazine for Solvay’s employees in the UK, their families and our many business partners.

It’s springtime and for many organisations this is a good time to review sustainability performance so you will be pleased to read, on page 3, that Solvay Halifax is reaping the rewards of the company’s ongoing Manufacturing Excellence programme to drive sustainable performance improvements in three key areas.

Over on page 4, Melvin Dawes helps us to ‘make the right decision’ in our daily behaviours by summarising Solvay’s Code of Conduct to complement the recent training programme given to all employees. Pages 5, 6 and 7 provide business and community updates from Warrington, Halifax and Oldbury with Lostock news on page 19.

Our corporate pages, starting on page 8, present the final of our Global Business Units, “Engineering Plastics”. We also introduce Solvay’s Life Saving Rules, an important initiative which we hope will improve

16 Solar Impulse Applications 16 18 Community and Charity

19 Solvay People

our safety performance during 2015 and beyond.

In the wake of Solar Impulse’s flight plan, featured in Issue 31, pages 16 and 17 explain how Solvay’s pioneering technologies have resulted in our products being used in 25 applications and 6,000 parts inside the revolutionary aircraft. You can keep up to date with Solar Impulse’s exciting round the world journey as it unfolds at www.solarimpulse.com.

Pages 18 and 19 describe Solvay’s presence in the community along with the various charities that our employees and contractors are keen to support; from baking cakes and wearing red noses for Comic Relief to planning a bungee jump for The Walton Centre in Liverpool!

I do hope that you enjoy reading Issue 32 of Solvay Connects and we are always grateful to hear from you with any feedback or suggestions for future articles, along with any updates from our former colleagues.

Julie HitchinEditor

2 SOLVAY Connects[ Spring 2015 ] [ nº 32 ]

The programme aims to drive sustainable performance improvement in three key areas, namely: operating systems (technical systems), physical assets and resources (performance management), and the way staff think, feel and conduct themselves in the workplace (mind-set and behaviour).

In line with this, we have taken a holistic view of the site and made changes in areas ranging from process improvements in production to meeting delivery deadlines and management efficiency.

I n ma n u fa c tu r i n g ca p a c i t y, ma jo r improvements have been made in the installation process. New storage tanks have been installed to increase our flexibility/reactivity in finished product deliveries and to store intermediate products, and this has significantly reduced packaging use. Obviously, process improvements were also implemented to increase capacity.

In production planning, there was significant instability, resulting in problems from raw material supply to delivery to customers. Having identified and addressed a number of internal issues, we are proud to report that our planning stability has now reached more than 80%.

Performance management and behaviour has been another key focus, and we have introduced a new concept known as ‘White Board Meetings’. Focussed on Key

Performance Indicators, these 15-minute meetings have proved invaluable in helping managers and the team to identify and prioritise actions by looking at past performance and analysing what is coming up that may cause a problem. The meetings are now being widened out from production and logistics to other areas.

We have also been increasing and improving the efficiency of the management team presence at shop floor level by helping them identify areas they should focus on during a particular visit. This is improving the quality of audits and creating additional opportunities for interaction and discussion with the team.

The sustainability of the ME programme is strongly dependant on our ability to incorporate it into our daily activities. In line with this, a ‘Boot camp’ approach was launched to define our vision and priorities and agree how we can translate them within the ME programme. Boot camp also encourages management teams and first-line managers to devise new ways of working together to improve efficiency. This will help us to continue to build on the considerable success already achieved.

Our journey to excellence is well under way, shaping the site and its people to achieve great results and, I am fully confident that more exceptional outcomes will be achieved by the team.

Regional

Manufacturing Excellence programme achieves impressive results for Solvay Halifax

Guillaume PeronSite Director Solvay Halifax

Manufacturing Excellence

Solvay Halifax is reaping the rewards of the company’s ongoing Manufacturing Excellence (ME) programme, which has already enabled it to effect significant improvements across the site in the past year.

3SOLVAY Connects [ Spring 2015 ] [ nº 32 ]

Regi

onal

Solvay employees should all now have been trained on the new Solvay Code of Conduct which reminds us of the guiding principles to follow when confronted with difficult choices. While much of the content is second nature, Solvay has a strong tradition of values that are historically ingrained in the Group’s culture and which we all must strive to live up to.

I would like to remind employees of the importance of the Code in our daily work and how it can aid us in making difficult decisions where “the right thing to do” may not always be clear. While each of us is expected to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we should also comply with the Code. Our shared pursuit of excellence should be accompanied by a commitment to act with uniformly high integrity.

High safety standards and constant improvement are an integral part of the Solvay work ethic and commitment. Each employee is expected to contribute to the safety of the workplace by being alert and by following the relevant rules, policies and procedures and by reporting any unsafe condition.

Making the Right Decision

Code of Conduct

The Code and connected materials can be found on Solia / WeLink. If you would like to discuss or report a specific matter, then you should contact your manager, local HR, local Legal Department, Regional Compliance Officer or you may prefer to use the Solvay Ethics Helpline. If you have not yet been trained, please speak to your line manager or your local HR manager.

We are all individually responsible for protecting the business and reputation of Solvay and, by following this Code in our daily behaviours, we are posit ively contributing to the future of our Group.

Melvin DawesCountry Manager, UK & Ireland

Ask for advice

? ? ?

Don’t do it.

No

Is the action legal?

Does the action comply with internal

policies?

Will my conduct allow us to

maintain the trust of all of our

stakeholders?

Yes Yes Yes DO IT.

No No

Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

Ask for advice Ask for advice

How to make the Right Decision


Regional

(L to R) Peter McGuckin, AO Operator with Isabelle and Arnaud

January 1st… New Year’s Day 2015 and a new shift pattern smoothly slipped into place with 6 shifts of 4 people and site ut i l i ty act iv i t ies now incorporated within each shift. We believe this new arrangement will provide a simple and efficient shift pattern, with enhanced training opportunities, that seeks to minimise the fatigue risks.

In the second week of January the Process Heat Recovery Project was commissioned with training of the shift teams starting and continuing for a number of weeks to cover all 6 shifts.

The project is a great success allowing steam, generated from the heat in working solution, to be used in the distillation process. Previously the steam requirement for distillation was generated in the boiler using natural gas. This project improves the environmental sustainability of the site by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas produced.

To reinforce the importance of safety to the Solvay Group a programme of safety visits to the site by the GBU Peroxides Management Team was organised. At the end of January the site was visited by

Isabelle Gubelmann-Bonneau - Marketing Director and Arnaud Benoist - Finance Director. They spoke with the AO Operators seeking to understand their views on safety. A very pleasing outcome was the evident progress noted since the previous visit, which led to a number of favourable comments being made.

Thinking of safety – Slips, Trips and Falls – these have been the majority of our recent on-site incidents. It is surprising that walking is what we have all been doing since our toddler days and yet we still have problems doing it safely. The site is not alone since Slips, Trips and Falls account for over a third of all industrial accidents. Hopefully we can all become more aware of our surroundings and take care of

THE CHEMICAL NORTHWEST AWARDS IN MARCH SAW THE SITE SHORT LISTED IN THREE CATEGORIES: OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, HEALTH & SAFETY AND MANUFACTURING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR. COMPETITION WAS BRISK AND UNFORTUNATELY THIS TIME WE WEREN’T CALLED TO THE DAIS TO RECEIVE ANY AWARDS. AN AWARD DID COME TO THE SITE HOWEVER; CONGRATULATIONS TO PERSTORP ON WINNING THE OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD.

ourselves with the aim also of reducing the number of such incidents.

With this in mind, and with the assistance of James Daly – GBU Peroxides Industrial Director and Henk Venbrux – European Industrial Operations Manager, the site is developing a programme to understand the reasons behind the major causes of such incidents and to look at solutions to encourage safer walking practices.

Let’s all keep walking safely and with confidence through 2015, and thanks for the great start to the year.

Len SharpeManaging DirectorSolvay Interox Limited

Warrington

2015 started where 2014 left off and there are so many things happening


HalifaxRe

gion

al

Internet Safety

Solvay Halifax has sponsored a new initiative, which will enable Holywell Green Primary School, in Stainland Road, to supply 120 pupils with an informative and entertaining book on how to use the internet safely.

Solvay Halifax helps pupils get to grips with internet safety

‘Caught in the Web’, which is part of a series of books produced by The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain, explores the issues of internet safety and c y b e r - b u l l y i n g v i a Barney Eagle, Echo S q u i r re l a n d t h e i r friends.

Guillaume Peron

The book is supplemented by a variety of activities, such as word searches, a web maze, questions and colouring, to help children learn how to use the internet safely and responsibly.

Paul McVeigh, headteacher at Holywell Green Primary School, said: “Schools have a vital role to play in getting internet safety messages across to children. We are extremely grateful to Solvay Halifax for enabling us to provide pupils with such a fantastic learning tool.”

Guillaume Peron, Solvay Halifax Site Director, said: “It is imperative that children learn how to use the internet safely and have a clear set of rules to follow. We are pleased to help Holywell Green Primary School further pupils’ knowledge and understanding in this area by sponsoring these valuable books.”


Regional

Oldbury

Solvay in Oldbury recently played host to around 30 Birmingham University students to help them with their MSc in Occupational Health.

Solvay’s Safety Advisor, Wayne Barratt, explained how the company’s health and safety procedures work in order to help students get to grips with the Process Safety Module of their MSc.

The students, who were accompanied by their lecturer, Ian Litchfield, had a comprehensive tour of the Solvay site, where they learned about all kinds of safety procedures including provisions for the phosphorus off-loading point.

Feedback showed that the students were impressed by the health and safety measures put in place by the company, the way that it manages risk and its engagement with the local community.

Comments from students included: “I now have a very good idea about what Solvay does and the risks associated with handling phosphorus and phosphorus products;” “The organisation takes safety very seriously” and “I like the way it engages with the community.”

Jean-François Berthiaume, Site Director of Solvay in Oldbury, said: “As a company that

is governed by the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of health, safety and environmental protection.

We are, therefore, ideally placed to help Birmingham University students learn how health and safety measures work in practice and we were delighted to be able to assist them in this way.”

Students see health and safety procedures in action at Solvay

Steve Waltho sprints into action for heart charitySteve Waltho, a Solvay Oldbury Team Leader, put his best foot forward to raise £160 for the charity, Action Heart, by completing its annual, five-mile race in Dudley in 53 minutes.

Sponsored by the Solvay Oldbury Fundraisers, as well as family and friends, Steve was among hundreds of entrants taking part in the 25th annual race in February to help Action Heart, which has been operating a cardiac rehabilitation programme in Dudley since 1978.

As a veteran of strenuous fundraising challenges, Steve has raised tens of thousands of pounds for a variety of good causes over the past 40 or so years through his sporting achievements.

Last year, he led a community group on a challenging commemorative climb of Ben Nevis to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. In 2013, he tackled four routes conquering 20 peaks including the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike, in a cumulative time of 29 hours, covering 40 miles, with a total ascent of 15000 feet.


"Business success comes from people. Thanks to a high level of engagement and cooperation of our talented teams, Solvay Engineering Plastics has recently gone through a transformation to create more value for our customers and for Solvay. To make it happen, we are fostering every day a spirit of empowerment & accountability to ensure the right decisions are taken fast and at the right level.”

François HinckerGBU President

GBU ID Card: Engineering Plastics

Under the Technyl® brand, GBU Engineering Plastics relies on both global presence and leading expertise to develop, produce and commercialise a range of engineered polymer-based materials in attractive and demanding markets such as automotive and transportation, construction, electrical devices, industrial applications, consumer goods.

Key Figures for 2013RevenueEUR 597 million

Employees 933

% of R&I spend from total revenues1.5%

Engineering Plastics (EP) teams work closely with leading industry players to develop innovative solutions meeting major market drivers as CO2 reduction, energy efficiency, miniaturisation, electrification, safety and environmental performance.

Engineering Plastics’ most famous product brands are: • Technyl® One: a new high temperature

solution for electrical protection that bridges the gap between standard polyamides and high-performance polymers

• Technyl Star®: a range of structural materials for metal replacement

• Technyl® eXten: a partially bio-sourced polymer for chemical resistance

• Technyl 4earth®: eco-friendly solutions based on recycled polyamides

In addition, EP offers its customers a wide range of services, from advanced simulation to prototyping and application testing expertise, e.g.: • Sinterline™ Technyl Powders: the first range

of polyamide 6 powders developed for 3D printing (rapid prototyping and small series)

End Products

GBU Strategy

Engineering Plastics pursues a strategy of ‘accelerated differentiation’ to support its customer’s growth, which allies: • Developing new products and services to

provide customers with high-value solutions in segments where EP has a leading expertise: Metal Replacement, Fire Protection, Thermal Management & Fluid Barrier;

• Reinforcing operational excellence to remain a highly competitive supplier on the mature end of the portfolio, called ‘Essentials’.

The main pillars of this strategy are a solid customer and accreditation base, a robust product and application expertise, a clear focus on sustainable innovation, a solid presence in Asia-Pacific and the global deployment of excellence programmes.

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GBU ID Card

• MMI Technyl Design™: an advanced simulation service to predict the performance of injection moulded parts


It is great for an organisation to generate a lot of ideas. However, ideas without structure and follow-through run the risk of remaining pipe dreams.

Our G

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Deployment Q1 2015: pilot running in plants (Bad Hönningen, Germany and Devnya, Bulgaria), Industrial and R&I Brussels, Belgium

Q2 2015: replacement of all Innoplace idea boxes 1.5%

Q3 2015: replacement of Imaginatik / Koblank

Q4 2015: replacement of other identified systems (excel sheets,…) and deployment to any other Interested Site, GBU, Function with automatic translation of emitted ideas.

Where ideas meet

Faced with the emergence of numerous management systems through which to capture and exchange ideas across the Group, Solvay’s Industrial Team set out to develop a single tool that could optimally support the entire organisation. The result – part of the Group’s Keep It Simple at Solvay (KISS) initiative – is GOT IT, a structured management process to stimulate and facilitate the suggestion, implementation and sharing of ideas by all employees.

“As a Group, we promote a strong ‘Excellence’ approach, which embraces continuous improvement, innovation and empowerment,” explains Thierry Cartage, Strategy & Communication Director for the Industrial function. “To truly benefit from such an approach, the Group relies on the good ideas and best practices created in all areas of the organisation, from every GBU and entity to every role and region. So we knew that we had to find a better way to manage this exchange.”

Solvay currently has several different management systems through which to exchange ideas: Innoplace, the Solvay legacy idea box system heavily used in plants, generating approximately 10,000 ideas per year, with suggestions leading to annual savings of ≈10M€; Imaginatik, used by Specialty Polymers in the US with about 1,000 users; Koblank, used by Acetow in Germany

with about 850 users and various Excel spreadsheets in plants spanning Belle-Etoile in France to Onsan in Korea.

The problem is that none of these systems is linked with the others. Beyond that, much of the software is now obsolete and usage is decreasing.

Bingo!The Industrial Team soon settled upon a new Group Idea Management System, which they named GOT IT.

“First of all, it is easy to use,” explains Thierry (pictured above). “It does not require a password to connect, and it’s web-based, which means that it can be used with mobile devices.”

Thierry Cartage

According to the team, which includes representatives from Industrial, Sustainable Development, Research & Innovation, Human Resources and Solvay Business Services IS Application, it will also be straightforward to use, requiring no training and available in 19 languages.

“What we hope to support and even encourage is more employee involvement in idea generation, whether it be for initiatives such as HR Collaborative Innovation, a way to fill the pipe of Research & Innovation projects, suggestions for new processes or ways to improve our sustainability,” explains Thierry, who highlights that different entities could foresee launching global or local challenges using the tool, such as “Who has the best idea for…”

Got it?


Whether we like them or not, rules are put in place for a reason. The problem is rules are all too often overlooked or miscommunicated. Here at Solvay, such a lapse in effort or a misunderstanding cannot be an excuse when it comes to life threatening situations. To that end, Solvay’s Life Saving Rules have been newly introduced Group-wide. Every site and Business must adopt them, and each and every employee is expected to comply to ensure not only their own safety but that of their colleagues too.

“There is no longer a place in this Group for complacency because we see that complacency leads to severe accidents,” says Jean-Bernard Savoye, Industrial Function/HSE, Corporate Process Manager Occupational Safety. “We expect every employee to commit to safety.”

Back to basics

We start with our 2015/2016 programme and its commitment to prevent fatalities. When examining, over the last 20 years, the causes of fatal accidents within the Group, 80% of accidents are shown to be the result of staff not obeying basic safety rules, meaning that these accidents were avoidable. These findings have led to the introduction of Life Savings Rules, which are basic yet specific, focusing on the eight most dangerous activities across sites.

Message to plant managers

Speaking to the Group’s plant managers, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Solvay CEO, said recently: “Our safety performance in the past couple of years is clearly below my expectation and probably below our collective expectations. We need to put safety back as our first priority, which is exactly why we are launching these initiatives.”

“The Life Saving Rules are a very simple concept and a way to make sure we can reduce the number of fatal accidents and accidents with irreversible consequence. These rules could have helped us to avoid the serious accidents that we have seen in the past couple of years,” he added.

Act local: your role

All Solvay employees worldwide should be aware of the 2015 rollout of the Solvay Life Saving Rules, and each will, over the coming months, have further explanation and training via their local site managers. The purpose of a phased rollout is to ensure a thorough explanation of each rule and to encourage an open culture whereby all employees understand the expectations of management and are in a comfortable position to also give feedback and share knowledge with their colleagues. Site managers are tasked to complete the introduction of all eight rules by the end of this year. The actual timing of the rollout will vary from site to site and depends on local circumstances and needs. Details of site training and demonstrations will be shared via local site managers in the coming weeks.

Safety

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Jean-Bernard Savoye

Life Saving Rules: No room for complacency


Our G

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People must know these rules by heart

“People must accept that it is in their own interest to understand and comply with the rules. There is no room for discussion here because these rules are about protecting the lives of everyone who works at Solvay,” adds Jean-Bernard. Each person’s involvement in these life safety rules, regardless of their role, has a direct impact on Solvay’s safety culture, and this means that colleagues are not only responsible for their own actions but also need to take a proactive role in ensuring that their co-workers are also acting in accordance to the rules. Additionally, site managers are required to provide quarterly feedback to management on the acceptance and implementation of the rules at their site, and are obliged to take disciplinary action with any employee not observing the rules. “The introduction of these rules is not the ‘solution to safety’. It is a tool, one that needs Group wide acceptance and adoption,” concludes Jean-Bernard.

Life Saving Rules: No room for complacencySolvay Life Saving Rules

• Whose purpose is to protect people’s lives • Which are simple and easy to understand • Which are specific to dangerous activities • In limited number and easy to remember • Applicable to everyone in the whole group

Dangerous Activities

1 Work at height 2 Work on powered systems 3 Line breaking 4 Work in confined spaces 5 Work in explosive atmosphere 6 Lifting 7 Excavation 8 Traffic


Innovation

Anticipating emerging market trends

The field of electronic and electrical applications currently accounts for only 7% of Solvay’s turnover. “To grow in this field, we are gradually developing cross-technology roadmaps on specific fields of application while continuing to develop solutions that are currently in our business portfolio,” says Ludovic.

The challenge in this approach is in anticipating emerging market trends. “In terms of technology, we have recently observed that manufacturers have been successful in creating a need among consumers by offering them new products. This was particularly the case with touch pads which have known unflinching success for the last five years,” adds Sébastien. The Group must therefore be able to meet the expectations of consumers as well as accompany manufacturers in the renewal of their offers.

“To anticipate future technological needs, we need to understand new behaviours in mobile connectivity across tablets and mobile phones for example,” says Ludovic.

Towards a new generation of batteries and flexible displays

The flexibility of the screens of our devices is one of the major topics of this mobile connectivity.

“Our GBUs are currently seeking to develop products, additives or active materials that will interact with a dozen screen components

Presented with technology that is rapidly and constantly changing, consumers are on the lookout for electronic products that are more efficient, reliable and teeming with new features. The innovation strategy implemented by the Group to seize the opportunities of this fast growing market lacks neither assets nor ambition. Sébastien Piffard, in charge of the Group’s marketing excellence programme and an expert of the automotive and electronic markets, and Ludovic Odoni, manager of the innovation projects portfolio linked to advanced materials for the electronics market, explain.

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Sébastien Piffard

Solvay’s technological innovation at the heart of market trends


Mobile electronics: - Structural components: Kalix® HPPA, Ixef® PARA, - Electronic components: Amodel® PPA, Xydar® LCP - Smart and mobile devices: Technyl® One

Display technologies: Luminostar®, Luminostar® Origin™ Cerox® LiTFSI (antistatic agent for touch screens) Strontium carbonate, ETBFO (coatings) - Organic LED display: Fluorolink® PFPE - Organic printed memory: solvene® EAP - LED packaging: Amodel® PPA, Lavanta®HPP - High-intensity LEDs: Xydar® LCP

Semi conductors and memories: Zenus® Interox® Pico (cleaning & etching stages of semiconductor chip production)

Electrical Components: Amodel® PPA Xydar® LCP Technyl® range (connectors and terminal blocks)

A sample of existing Solvay products offering enhanced design and connectivity

Our G

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in order to simplify production and move towards a greater flexibility in the use of this part of the appliance,” explains Ludovic.

Besides foldable and rollable displays, the results of this research could lead to a new use of light through luminescent walls or screens with a better resolution and more energy efficiency. Commercialisation could start in 2018.

Batteries are also a transversal field of research in technological innovation favoured by the Group. “Solvay has set up a research platform responsible for a new generation of lithium-ion cells providing greater security, durability and energy density while optimising production costs,” says Sébastien.

A very short time constant

The proliferation of high-tech innovations requires constant vigilance to identify ongoing risks and market opportunities.

“Time constraints are particularly prevalent in our sector,” says Ludovic. For instance, 50% of the purchase volume of materials

u s e d b y s o m e m a j o r e l e c t r o n i c s manufacturers were not used by them just two years ago. “Our technological roadmaps can only be defined within five to eight years from now, which is short compared with the time constraints in the car industry (15 years) or aviation (30-40 years).”

Experience in support of reliability

The electronics market requires extremely pure and highly technical components. One of the Group’s major strengths is to provide chemical materials and products that meet the stringent technical requirements of the sector.

“Our history, and particularly our activity in the pharmaceutical sector, has helped us acquire high control of manufacturing processes. This skill is a value in itself in countries with emerging industries, because in technological fields, the purity of active materials is directly linked to reliability; particularly in the field of active electronic materials which we are trying to lead,” says Ludovic.

This masterful control of processes also al lows for a faster analysis of the technological maturity of a product and ensures optimal response to customer expectations.

Be where things happen

To meet the current technological innovation challenge, the Group may also rely on the excellence of its teams based in Asia, at the heart of the market.

Ludovic Odoni

Solvay’s technological innovation at the heart of market trends

“The two major players in the display industry (smartphones, tablets, TVs, notebooks etc) are Korean and represent 30% of the market. They are the current innovation leaders in applications. Having now a strong foothold in this country, collaborating closely with local technical centres of excellence is key to our businesses developing there successfully,” concludes Ludovic.


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At Solvay, health promotion goes well beyond occupational risks

Health Promotion

Healthy workplaces help make employees less stressed, more engaged and businesses more productive. Thus promoting health in the workplace is not just common sense, it is also good business sense.

Geneviève Thiaucourt

As Geneviève Thiaucour t , Head of Occupational Health within the Industrial Function, explains: “Solvay has many structured occupational health programmes, supported by the dai ly work of i ts occupational hygienists and aligned with the Group’s health roadmap 2014-2018. And while the first priority is to prevent occupational risks and ensure safety, promoting general health awareness is an advanced practice within Solvay Way.”

In 2014, 72 sites offered general health awareness prevention programmes. Here are some examples:

Table tennis action in Aubervilliers

A “Sports & Health” day was organised in Aubervilliers l a s t S e p t e m b e r , i n partnership with the French Table Tennis Federation, as part of the “Sentez-vous S p o r t ” ( “ F e e l S p o r t ” ) initiative of France’s Ministry of Sports and the French N a t i o n a l O l y m p i c Committee.

O n e h u n d r e d t o 1 5 0 colleagues participated in various activities: morning conferences starring table tennis champion Christophe Legout, an afternoon demonstration by members of the French national team, and personalised workshops where health tests based on table tennis exercises highlighted each person’s level of fitness and paths of improvement.

“We had a unique opportunity to interact with a high-level athlete and discuss what

sport can bring to families, at a competitive level or otherwise! I also met several colleagues from other departments whom I didn’t know, which was also an important added value to that special day,” says Emmanuelle Vallier, HSE Coordinator.

A few months later, dozens of si te employees gathered around a table tennis “get together” in order to successfully contribute to the “AFM Telethon”, raising funds to fight rare and severely disabling genetic diseases.

The next edition of “Sentez-vous Sport” will be held in September 2015, and other sites in France are being encouraged to join in.

Here’s to Health in Houston

The Group’s Houston-area companies (Solvay Chemicals, Inc., Solvay America, Inc., Solvay Fluorides, LLC and Solvay Information Systems, NAFTA) have promoted and encouraged health and fitness for many years. In 2008, a programme called “Here’s to Health” was established to motivate people to exercise. In a spirit of friendly competition, points are awarded


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At Solvay, health promotion goes well beyond occupational risks

Aline Hugé

Sport Yourself at Solvay Headquarters

The Group’s headquarters sponsors its own sporting competition in the months of May and June. Colleagues are encouraged to sign up to compete in events as diverse as pétanque, football, table tennis, badminton or volleyball.

Outside of this competition, the site encourages physical activity throughout the year as part of its “Move at Work” campaign. “Alternating periods of work and breaks is important,” explains Lydia Richart, Assistant to the Internal Service for Prevention and Protection at Work (SIPP) . “As part of the action, we encourage colleagues to conduct exercises that are easy to integrate into their breaks, such as taking the stairs, parking further away from their office so that they have further to walk or hosting meetings standing up!”

Additional initiatives across the Group include Stress and Well-Being programmes,

nutrition and minimising cardiovascular risks. Relating to both health and safety, there is also the pilot and rollout of a new Solvay Care Management System (SCMS), which integrates occupational r isks management for health and safety, and global health promotion.

Well-being

“Workplaces with a positive and proactive approach to health are better able to retain people and give them satisfaction at work, which is well known to play a role in commitment. Good health not only relates to lack of illness; it is also aligned with the perception of feeling good, being in the right place, and being appreciated for the job done,” says Aline Hugé, Solvay Medical Coordinator for Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom and North America. “Dedicating time and attention to work- life balance is part of the social responsibility of the company. I have been impressed by all innovative ideas coming from the multidisciplinary team involved in health promotion: HR, communication, doctors and nurses, nutritionists, and sport and fitness coaches.”

to employees based on minutes of exercise completed. Colleagues log their points throughout the year on an on-line system, and at the end of the year, scores are totalled and prizes are awarded.

Learning from each other

“Adults spend more time at the workplace than in any other location,” adds Genevieve. “The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2009) states that the workplace influences ‘physical, mental, economic and social well being’ and ‘offers an ideal setting and infrastructure to support the promotion of health to a large audience.’”

“But of course we can always do better by, for example, increasing the number of sites managing campaigns, by sharing best practices, and by collecting personal health data such as body mass index, and labs tests data - while of course respecting national legislation and privacy laws - in order to help monitor the impact that these great programmes actually have on our well-being.”

Runners take off for the 5th Noenphra-Vinythai Super Mini-Marathon. Vinythai is a Solvay subsidiary based in Thailand.


Solar Impulse

Everyone has a piece of Solar Impulse

Since 2004, Solvay has contributed pioneering technologies that have resulted in 13 products being used in 25 applications and 6,000 parts inside Solar Impulse. These products improve the plane’s energy chain, enhance its structure, and reduce its weight. However, these crucial products are not exclusive to this historic zero-fuel aircraft. The benefits they deliver to it are the same as those delivered to the many pieces of equipment, devices and articles of clothing that each of us use from day to day.

Halar® – Energy Capture

On Solar Impulse – The photovoltaic (PV) cells are protected from harsh conditions during the flight by a transparent surface treated film, based on Halar® ECTFE.

You can find Halar® ECTFE inside cargo tankers, aircraft interiors and flame-resistant insulation blankets.

Torlon®PAI – StructureOn Solar Impulse, the 70 metre wing spar is made of a sandwich structure entrapping a “honeycomb” between two carbon fibre foils. The honeycomb is made of paper impregnated with the Torlon® PAI polymer.

You can find Torlon®PAI in gears used in the oil & gas and automotive industries.

KetaSpire®PEEK – Light weight/metal replacement

On Solar Impulse, screw fasteners attach various components within the wings. These very strong but lightweight pieces are made of KetaSpire® PEEK.

You can find KetaSpire®PEEK in large commercial airliners.

Ixef® PARA – Light weight/metal replacement

On Solar Impulse, Solvay assembled a pneumatic cylinder made almost entirely from polymer Ixef® PARA– a robust, yet light-weight material.

You can find Ixef® PARA in the air conditioning vents and side-view mirror unit inside your car.

Solef® PVDF – Energy storage all 4 engines

For the Si2, Solvay developed a new grade of Solef ® PVDF, used as binder offering optimal adhesion to the electrodes, and which also helps to reduce the weight of the engines’ batteries.

You can find Solef® PVDF in cutting-edge electric cars.

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Everyone has a piece of Solar Impulse

Sinterline® Technyl®

Powders – Light weight/metal replacementSelective Laser Sintering (SLS) is an industrial 3D printing technology that can rapidly create complex parts. With Sinterline® Technyl® Powders Solvay produced two devices for Si2: The Air Data Computer Housing (ADC) flight instrument and the lighting clips that support the lights at the front of the wings.

You can find numerous parts made from Technyl® materials to replace metal in your vehicle or to protect your electrical equipment.

Emana® based on Polyamide 66 – Pilot gear

Solvay developed Emana®, a “smart fibre” based on Polyamide 66. Clothing from Emana® yarns has specific properties. Worn on the skin it stimulates micro-circulation of the blood and enhances muscle performance. Both Solar Impulse pilots tested Emana® as underwear, with positive results, during 72-hour flight simulations.’

You can find Emana® in your jeans.

Solkane® 365 – StructureThe 3.8 m3 cockpit of Solar Impulse had to be lightweight, but also stable and providing optimal insulation. Those challenges were met with polyurethane foams, which are produced from two monomers, a polyol and an isocyanate, as well as a foam expansion or blowing (BA) agent. Solvay’s blowing agent Solkane® 365 offers best-in-class thermal conductivity.

You can find Solkane® 365 in the walls and roofs of your homes and offices, in your car steering wheel and also your bicycle seat.

F1EC – Energy storage – all 4 engines

The monofluoro-ethylene carbonate solvent called F1EC or FIC can represent up to 20 % of the electrolyte blend in rechargeable Li-Ion batteries. As this improves the ion flow, it allows the batteries to carry more current, at equal weight. These components are used on the batteries of Solar Impulse.

You can find F1EC in the batteries of your smartphone, digital camera, MP3 player, tablet and PC.

Fomblin® – Lubrication all 4 engines

On Solar Impulse, Fomblin® PFPE-based grease is found in the propeller bearings and Fomblin® liquid lubricants with special proprietary additives are used in the planetary gears.

You can find Fomblin® inside your laptop and in more than 10 components in your automobile – alternator bearings, spark plug covers, ABS and electric window motors.

Engineering Plastics

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It is now 12 years since our Hemel Hempstead office closed but the friendships live on. Pictured (L-R) are Sara Larman, Keith Higgins, Chris Wilkinson, Ria Crawford, Allison Baker, John Nelson and Collette Whittle. As former colleagues of Melvin Dawes, see page 4, they asked us to pass on their congratulations and best wishes to him in his new role as Country Manager, UK & Ireland. If there are any other social gatherings of former colleagues, we’d love to hear from you.

Sodexo’s Joanne Risley has been tirelessly fund raising to thank The Walton Centre for the care they gave to her dad John after an accident in December. Sadly John passed away in January but Joanne’s friends and family have continued to raise money in his memory. So far they have raised over £3,600 and a recent raffle at Warrington site brought in £292. Pictured below are two of the raffle winners, Victoria Cassidy and Collin Powers, who were delighted with their Easter hampers. Joanne wishes to thank everyone for their generous donations and has just completed a walk up Snowdon and is planning a bungee jump and other events to keep the funds rising. If you wish to support this worthy cause please visit www.justgiving.com/joanne-risley or learn more on our back page.

Joanne with her lovely dad John

Winners – Victoria and Collin

Charity and Community

Where are they now…?The Walton Neuroscience Fund

https://sites.google.com/site/lymmmaplelodge/

COGS – Community of Guides and ScoutsLen Sharpe recently attended the official opening of the new Maple Lodge Scout and Guide Headquarters in Lymm, Cheshire. Solvay was pleased to support this new venture and had our logo etched onto the Community Maple Tree outside

the headquarters. This greets anyone coming into the centre, or walking past, and is gently illuminated at night to ensure that it can be seen at all times. Paul Fuller, Chairman, 3rd Lymm Scouts Group said “Once again a huge thanks to Len and Solvay for supporting us in this way. It is very much appreciated and will help enormously in equipping our new building.”


Red Nose Day Thanks to Cathy Booth for co-ordinating a team of home-made cake bakers at Warrington site, and to those who enjoyed them and donated, a total of £77 was raised for Comic Relief.

ttp://www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday

Cathy (left) with Helen Plant

Lostock

Local

Solvay People

New Starters

Charity

Brian RileyProcess Operator

Oldbury

Joanne Lo Analytical Chemist

Azam Mir Process Operator

Mike Slack (pictured left) receives his 40 year certificate

from Ged Cassidy

Long Service

Diary ReminderThe Warrington Long Service Dinner will be held on Friday 9th October, 2015. Letters will be posted out shortly but, if you’d like to attend for the first time, the organisers can be contacted as follows: Peter Webster 01244-343981 [email protected] or Geoff Taylor 01925-261254 [email protected]

“Wear it. Beat it.”Red in Feb, organised by Bill Redcliffe (centre front), raised £141 for the British Heart Foundation by Lostock employees wearing red to work. This amount was matched by Solvay Speciality Chemicals to make a grand total of £282.

http://wearitbeatit.bhf.org.uk/about/


Solvay is pleased to raise awareness for The Walton Centre in memory of John Risley.

Join our JimJam!Recruiting now for the Jarmy Army!

Please put on your jimjams and support our Home from Home Fund, for families of patients critically ill in the Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

You can wear your jarmies to work or on a sponsored walk or cycle ride; have a nightie night with friends or swap your DJs for PJs. Your nightwear-themed event can help us to provide free accommodation for families whose loved ones are seriously ill in our care.

For more information, call 0151 529 5612 or visit: www.greatbritishjimjam.co.uk

The charity supports patients and their families in the care of The Walton Centre, a specialist NHS trust for the treatment of brain, spine and pain conditions.

Registered charity no: 1050050

Documents

Connects - Solvay€¦ · Solvay employees should all now have been trained on the new Solvay Code of Conduct which reminds us of the guiding principles to follow when confronted