Ostrava, 24 September 2019 – The traditional Health Week was held at Liberty Ostrava steel mill this year again. All last week, the plant’s employees could choose to participate in one of the programmes whose aim was to remind employees of the importance to take care of their health and pay attention to disease prevention. Participation in the project of Chance for Life run by the non-profit organisation Alma Mater, whose task is to raise awareness of serious disorders of hematopoiesis, was this year’s novelty. For every 100 metres of rowing on a special rowing machine, Liberty Ostrava donated 50 CZK to the charity account and so doubled the final amount. Twenty employees of the steel mill were newly registered in the register of bone marrow donors, too.

“We provided our employees with interesting and healthy sporting activities through which we could also help people in need. Our employees rowed nearly 200 kilometres on the rowing machine and we doubled the amount of the money gained so that Liberty Ostrava donated a total of CZK 20,000 to the charity account,” said Pavel Mück, head of Hygiene and Health Department at Liberty Ostrava.

Alma Mater’s Chance for Life project, whose aim is to raise awareness of serious hematopoietic disorders, was also aimed at attracting new bone marrow donors in the mill. During the Health Week, twenty Liberty Ostrava employees joined the register of donors.

 “Every year, hundreds of people go down with serious hematopoietic disorders, which can often only be cured by transplantation of bone marrow from a suitable donor. However, there is acute lack of potential donors in the Czech National Bone Marrow Donor Register and no suitable bone marrow donor can be found for every fourth patient. We are much grateful for every new potential donor, for that matter,” said Dagmar Knýblová, chairwoman of the Alma Mater non-profit organisation.

In addition to charity rowing, a number of traditional activities were prepared for employees. Massages or functional tests of PPEs were available. As healthy eating also closely relates to healthy lifestyle, a healthy menu was served in staff canteens throughout the week. A football tournament for employees from individual plants of the mill was also a traditional part of the programme.

“This year, over 4.5 thousand of our employees participated in the Health Week. I am glad that they are interested in keeping fit and want to lead a healthy lifestyle, because for us, their health and safety are crucial, too. That is why we pay attention to proper health promotion and disease prevention in the long term, which is certainly more effective than dealing with the consequences of their neglect,” concluded Jiří Michálek, Chief Health and Safety Officer at Liberty Ostrava.

Liberty Ostrava a.s. is an integrated steel business with a production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes of steel. At present it annually produces c. 2.2 million tonnes of steel, which is mainly used in construction, machinery and oil & gas industries. The company is a domestic leader in the manufacture of road barriers and tubes. In addition to the Czech market, it supplies its products to more than 40 countries around the world. Together with its subsidiaries, the company has 6,300 employees. The 2018 average monthly income was CZK 39,180. As a result of the above-standard greening, the company manufactures its products with a minimum possible environmental footprint. It is part of Liberty Steel, a global steel and mining business. Liberty Steel is part of the GFG Alliance, a global group of energy, mining, metals, engineering, logistics, and financial services businesses, headquartered in London, with a presence in around 30 countries worldwide. The Alliance has a global workforce of around 30,000 people and a turnover exceeding US$ 20 billion.

News release .pdf

LIBERTY Ostrava a.s.
Barbora Černá Dvořáková
Head of Communicaions
T +420 595 683 390
M +420 606 774 346
barbora.cerna-dvorakova@libertysteelgroup.com