At Caldic, ‘Safety First’ has been woven into the fabric of everyday operations thanks to the tireless efforts of the global and local Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (QHSE) teams. Robust systems and programs have been implemented across the organization to make it more than just a slogan.
But one site, in particular, has taken that commitment to an extraordinary level. The Duque de Caxias distribution center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hasn’t recorded a single lost-time incident (LTI) since 2010: over a decade and a half of incident-free operations.
In October 2023, the team at Duque de Caxias decided it was time to formally acknowledge the milestone. “They absolutely deserve to celebrate,” says Global QHSE Director Henk Boden, “What they’ve accomplished is beyond impressive, it is unprecedented. No other site in Caldic has reached this level of sustained excellence in safety.”
The achievement is more than just statistics. It represents years of proactive collaboration between employees and leadership, all working toward a shared goal: making safety everyone’s responsibility. “They’re proof that our Zero LTI target isn’t just aspirational, it’s achievable,” Henk affirms. “They’ve been consistently committed for 13 years, without compromise.”
Central to that success is a suite of programs developed and supported by our QHSE teams. Among them is Behavior-Based Safety (BBS), a program designed to identify and correct risky behaviors before they lead to incidents. “It’s about catching the small things early. You must be vigilant, and keep records, so that you can learn and improve,” Henk notes.
The Duque de Caxias site also embraces the +Safety Program, a recognition-based regional initiative that rewards employees who model safe practices. Alongside this are initiatives like the Zero Incident Program, the Internal Incident Prevention Commission, and the Life-Saving Rules - all of which provide structure and clarity to safety expectations.
For Sergio Aguiar, Operations Manager at the Duque de Caxias site, the record is a reflection of something much deeper than compliance.
This milestone confirms our culture of safety. It’s not just a policy – it is something we live and breathe every day. It underlines that 'Because we care' is not just a tagline for us. It is the care that drives our decisions, our actions, and ultimately, our success.
As the site continues forward with its unmatched record intact, there’s no sense of complacency - only motivation to keep pushing forward, together. The message is clear: at Caldic, safety is not the responsibility of one function or team, it is a core value shared widely across the team members.