THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
NEW
DELHI, OCTOBER 15, 2026
Jindal Steel Ltd has
won the 2026 Steelie Award for Excellence in People from the World Steel
Association for its innovative Dakshata Engineering Safety programme, which
seeks to strengthen workplace safety by assessing and enhancing employees'
capabilities for their specific job roles.
The award was
announced at the 17th Steelie Awards ceremony held in New Delhi on October 12,
recognising the company's efforts to move beyond conventional safety training
towards a competency-based approach that prioritises practical skills,
emergency preparedness and demonstrated readiness for duty.
The Dakshata
programme addresses a critical challenge in steel manufacturing, where
employees working in different positions face distinct operational hazards,
making a uniform approach to safety training inadequate. The initiative defines
the safety knowledge, practical skills and behavioural competencies required
for each role, assesses employees against these benchmarks, identifies gaps and
provides targeted training before reassessing their proficiency.
The programme's
Safety Lens has covered more than 27,100 executives and non-executives across
six locations. An initial large-scale assessment of 11,639 non-executives found
an average safety knowledge score of 0.81 against a practical skills score of
0.71, highlighting the gap between theoretical understanding and the ability to
apply safety practices on the shop floor.
The company has also
conducted 16,539 assessments of new hires and delivered 372 safety and health,
safety and environment (HSE) programmes, achieving a 96 per cent completion
rate through 69 certified trainers.
At its Raipur
Machinery Division, the competency-based model is complemented by artificial
intelligence-enabled workplace observations, digital risk analytics, access
controls, practical learning interventions and engineering measures to reduce
exposure to hazards.
During the 2025-26
financial year, the site recorded 17,752 safety observations and eliminated or
mechanised 379 high-risk tasks. It also reduced emergency response time by 15
per cent to 5.25 minutes and reported a lost-time injury frequency rate (LTIFR)
of zero.
The Steelie Awards recognise achievements and initiatives undertaken by member companies of the World Steel Association, representing the global steel industry. The 2026 Excellence in People award was decided by an independent panel of experts.
Jindal Steel was selected from a field of finalists that included China Baowu, InfraBuild, Tata Steel and USIMINAS, underscoring the international recognition of its approach to workforce capability development and operational safety.
