Safety Culture and Skills Project by Ares

Ares is the leading social integration group  in the Ile-de-France region, helping people in situations of exclusion - young people without qualifications, refugees, people with disabilities, etc. - to find sustainable employment. - to find sustainable employment. The group covers a range of businesses, including logistics, construction, circular economy and digital services, and has grown rapidly in recent years, with more than 1,300 people to be supported by 2022.

Guaranteeing safety in the workplace

The aim of the project is to guarantee the safety of Ares employees on a daily basis. This project is a continuation of the Zero Accident program, supported by the Air Liquide Foundation from 2020 to 2023. The Air Liquide Foundation's first financial and operational support for the "Zero Accident Program" has already led to a significant drop in accidents on Ares' construction sites, and a profound change in the Group's safety culture through the anchoring of daily and monthly rituals. Despite this progress, however, the accident frequency rate remains too high on our customer sites. This was the starting point for the "Safety Culture and Skills Project".

A project in line with the "zero accident" program to improve safety within the Ares Group

The objectives of the Safety Culture and Competence Project are as follows:

• Enable all ARES employees, whether permanent or on integration programs, to work in complete safety. 
• Train employees on integration schemes in the fundamentals of safety, so that they are aware of the risks involved and can pass on these skills to their employers. 
• Reduce the accident frequency rate at implants where ARES employees work.

In concrete terms

Ares has defined 3 major axes for this new project: 

• Consolidate the safety culture through more assertive safety leadership, by training operational management on the subject of safety, through inspirational visits to Air Liquide and by including the safety culture at the heart of their customer relations. 
• Putting safety at the heart of our socio-professional support system by creating a safety diploma and raising awareness of occupational risks for ARES employees (particularly non-French-speaking employees).
• Initiate a process of operational and social excellence. Disseminate Air Liquide's know-how and best practices in safety and operational excellence, as well as ARES' social methodologies, by setting up mentoring programs between Ares and the Air Liquide Group. This involves organizing exchanges between Air Liquide site managers and ARES site managers, particularly in Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne.

Zero accident" program: first support from the Foundation 2020 - 2023

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What the Air Liquide Foundation does

The Air Liquide Foundation finances :

• personnel costs for the ARES methods division
• external consulting services for the implementation of safety training courses
• the creation of videos and media to promote a safety culture within ARES
• the creation of a safety leadership training package
• the creation of a safety diploma for ARES employees.

The project is sponsored by an HSE Training Manager from the Air Liquide Head Office.

Claire Leveque, VP, Safety & Industrial System at Air Liquide SA