With an aim to further strengthen the safety net and achieve the goal of making accident-free steel, the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has introduced a unique incentivising scheme Rakshak based on reporting of the near-miss incidents inside the plant by the employees themselves. The objective is to bring to the record the near-miss cases that are the incidents occurring with no physical injury or property damage. Notably, reporting and analysis of the near-miss cases are considered to be an important tool to prevent accidents.The scheme provides a scope on the part of the employees to report about the incident to the HoD or the Departmental Safety Officer (DSO) within 24 hours of the incident.

The DSO would make the entries in the RSP Intranet Portal and ensure implementation of the recommendations also. An assessment committee comprising members from Finance, Personnel, IED and Safety Departments would assess the near-miss cases on a quarterly basis and the employees would be awarded a prize worth Rs 300 for every reported near-miss case.

Besides, the scheme also has annual Awards in three categories, i.e., Rakshak Department, Rakshak DSO and Rakshak Karmi. The first award would be in the form of a trophy and a certificate to the department concerned while the latter two awards carry prizes worth Rs 1,000 each to the individuals concerned. The Safety Engineering Department of RSP is the nodal agency of the scheme for its effective implementation.