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A major steel-manufacturing firm in the Arabian Gulf is the first of its kind successfully to use quality-control circles (QCCs) to enhance work safety in its operations and, through this, bring about financial savings for the organization.
QCCs are teams of up to 12 people who usually work together and meet regularly on a voluntary basis to identify, investigate and solve work-related problems. The main purpose of the meetings is to promote customer satisfaction through ongoing improvement.
Solving work-related problems
Worker safety is one of the most important sources of risk. Staff cannot be properly motivated if they feel they are working in a dangerous environment. Also, work safety is among the criteria used to judge good layout in manufacturing firms.
Qatar Steel Company (Qasco) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Industries Qatar and is the first integrated steel plant in the Arabian Gulf. The company was established in 1974, but steel production at the plant began in 1978. The mill is south of Doha, capital of Qatar.
The integrated plant consists mainly of four units: direct reduction; electric-arc furnace; continuous casting; and rolling mill. The plant annually produces 1.2 million tons of molten steel and 740,000 tons of rolled iron. It employs around 1,250 people, of 12 nationalities. With the exception of office staff, the mill is run on a three-shift system. Since the start of production, the company has undergone rapid growth and...