Dedicated to the well-
being of our team,
customers & neighbors

Safety is a priority at Lincoln Electric. We follow a rigorous health and safety program that adheres to stringent safety standards and best practices to ensure our manufacturing operations, related processes, and products do not negatively impact the health and welfare of our employees, customers and neighbors.
Our safety and wellness program includes:
  • Regional industrial hygiene program standards that exceed local requirements.
  • Extensive auditing, measurement, and process redesign to enhance safety.
  • Employee led behavior-based safety committees help identify safety issues and promote safety
    awareness.
  • Thousands of annual preventative health screenings and evaluations to identify impact from
    occupational activities.
  • Wellness Committees organize sport and fitness activities, competitions, nutrition programs, and health fairs.


In addition to Company-led programs and employee engagement in behavior-based safety and wellness committees, we are actively engaged on safety and health standard development committees at key industry organizations such as the American Welding Society and at various International Standards Organization (ISO) committees to ensure best practices for our employees and end users.

At Lincoln Electric, we monitor and measure several safety metrics across our operations, including DART (Days Away, Restrictions & Transfers) and TRIR (Total Recordable Incident Rate), which measure the frequency of safety incidents that occur within our facilities. We also monitor the DART and TRIR rates of our suppliers and investigate rates which appear excessive or are above industry standards for their sector.

Improve Safety by Reducing DART Incidents by 75%

(Days Away, Restrictions & Transfers "DART" incidents per 100 equivalent workers)

  • Our ultimate long-term goal is zero DART incidents.
  • 2017 vs. 2016 performance: This year we experienced improvement across the organization. These results were achieved through increased near miss reporting and incident investigation, behaviorbased safety initiatives, a focus on observations and interventions, and process and equipment improvements.
  • In 2017, 52% of our facilities achieved zero DART incidents (vs. 37.2% in the prior year).
  • We are focused on achieving and sustaining our 2020 safety goal by selectively implementing a safety management system such as ISO 45001 to augment the systems we utilize today, of which 14.6% of our manufacturing facilities are third-party certified OHSAS 18001. Additionally, we will be enhancing workplace ergonomics, manufacturing work centers and further leveraging 5S principles.
  • New acquisition facilities (i.e. Air Liquide Welding) are not included in the data as they are not integrated into Lincoln Electric’s EH&S program at this time.

The DART rate (Days Away, Restrictions & Transfers incidents per 100 equivalent workers) is used as the primary safety metric at Lincoln Electric as it is recognized by OSHA in the U.S. and by regional and international regulatory agencies. DART data reflects performance across all Lincoln Electric manufacturing facilities worldwide, including acquisitions after their first year with the organization.

We also measure our safety performance through Total Recordable Incident Rates (TRIR) and are focused on reducing our TRIR through our safety programs. (TRIR: Total Recordable Incident Rate per 100 equivalent workers)

  • 2017 vs. 2016 performance: We achieved a 22.5% improvement in TRIR through safety initiatives.
  • Both the frequency and severity of TRIR incidents have decreased significantly since our 2011 baseline year.
Behavior-based Safety Programs

We maintain safety programs across all facilities and the majority of our global manufacturing and hourly workforce are also represented by an employee-led, peer-to-peer behavior-based safety (BBS) organization that educates and enforces safe work habits and behaviors to prevent injury and reduce workplace risk. BBS programs include:

  • peer-to-peer safety observations
  • peer-to-peer feedback
  • mentoring of new employees until they pass safety certifications and can mentor others and serve on safety committees

BBS was initiated in 2000 with the “WELD Committee” at our Cleveland, Ohio campus, and local BBS organizations have expanded across our global footprint and engage workers at all levels to generate awareness, education and training on workplace EH&S issues. In China, the adoption of a peer-to-peer BBS program reduced lost work day incidents by 400% over a 3 year period and led to additional safety improvements—exemplifying the positive impact of a BBS program.

Supporting Customer Compliance to Promote Safety

We prioritize customer and end user safety through a commitment to product safety standards and investment in systems to ensure proactive, comprehensive communication of global product hazards and compliance with global harmonization standards for the classification and labeling of chemicals (GHS). These investments are made in anticipation of regulatory changes and are often implemented ahead of mandated adoption dates to support our customers’ compliance requirements, which depend on the quality of GHS information provided by their supply chain to ensure health and safety in their workplace.

Free Safety Tools for Customers

With arc welding operators in mind, we offer free posters, guides, videos and interactive tools that outline both mandatory safety practices and those based on decades of shop and worksite experience.

Responsive Technical EH&S Support to Promote Safety

Our goal is to provide our customers with the analysis and technology that can make their welding applications as safe as possible. We leverage our technical EH&S expertise to advise customers on the continuous improvement of operational processes and procedures to address product safety concerns and compliance issues. Today, we are the industry leader in providing fume analysis and welding application expertise to assist in improving customers’ fabrication processes to protect the health and well-being of their employees. Additionally, we field EH&S regulatory inquiries, provide educational seminars and webinars on regulatory changes that may affect customers, and utilize in-house technical research and laboratory testing for detailed, customized projects.

Next: Environmental Performance
Learn More About Our Sustainability Efforts