Health and Safety

We always aim to offer a pleasant and collaborative workplace environment in which our associates feel safe, protected and confident in relation to our efforts to ensure quality of life and well-being. This model enables associates to take part in decisions involving health and safety and submit proposals and opinions through committees created for this purpose, such as the Coronavirus committee, or through official internal communication channels.

Our Specialized Services Safety Engineering and Occupational Medicine (SESMT) consists of a multidisciplinary team: safety technicians and engineers, doctors, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, speech therapists, psychologists and physiotherapists - while the mission set for our Internal Commissions for Prevention of Accidents (Cipas) is to observe and report hazardous or risk situations in workplace environments, in addition to contributing to proposals to mitigate the latter.

Representatives appointed by us, and members elected by associates are members of these commissions (Cipas), which are set up in all operational units. In 2021, these commissions represented about 80% of our associates.

Training for each associate depends on their specific job and risks inherent to their activities. For technicians working on operational requirements in the field, training programs include working with energized equipment (NR-10) in confined spaces (NR-33) and at height (NR-35). Training for associates working in customer service include specific aspects of ergonomics as per NR-17’s Annex II.

In general, all associates get guidance for good ergonomics practices at home or in corporate environments, identifying risks in workplace environments (home offices too), Covid-19 precautions and how to proceed if there is a workplace accident.    

We have another series of measures to prevent workplace accidents. We monitor fleet vehicles to track any anomalies and control speed. By using hot sticks across spans (in many cases, thus eliminating any need to work at height). Lifelines and anchoring devices are used in cabling.

We also map health and safety requirements on monthly basis to consolidate them in the form of indicators used as benchmarks for new initiatives and decision-making. Over the last three years, there has been clearly positive results in terms of the absolute number of workplace accidents and absences of more than 15 days (impact on INSS). Due to the characteristics of Telecom sector’s technical activities, our main challenge is still running operations involving high-risk situations (working at height, underground galleries and caverns while working in close proximity to concession operators’ energized networks, driving vehicles, among other risk situations). In 2021, we logged 25 workplace accidents and 167 workdays lost, related to falls on the same and different levels, driving vehicles and handling equipment/tools. Average accident frequency and severity level were 2.64 and 17.64 respectively.

From the risk point of view, due to the characteristics of our networks (mostly overhead), there are risks that may extend to local communities and have to be monitored, such as possible accidents due to cable breakages or accidental energization of metallic networks. We have an area dealing with health and safety issues to ensure to genuine care for people, which is also reflected in the numbers and helps boost our brand and mitigate financial impacts.

Our health area consists of an occupational physician, nurses and managers in compliance with regulations and other legal requirements. Healthcare services may be accessed in person (buildings that have their own doctor office/medical room and for partner clinics) or remotely through official communication channels (Workplace, Workchat and e-mail) or our healthcare programs: Algar + Health, Dr + Health, 24h Telemedicine Healthcare, Gympass, Viva Psychology and Universe Moment, among others.

Workplace accidents