Each year, our Taboão da Serra plant in Brazil hosts Semana Interna de Prevenção de Acidentes no Trabalho e Meio Ambiente (SIPATMA), which translates to “Internal Week for the Prevention of Accidents at Work and the Environment.” This weeklong educational event encourages employees to gather daily for lectures and activities geared toward continuously improving environmental and safety performance at the site.

To comply with Brazilian Regulatory Standards, companies must create a Comissão Interna de Prevenção de Acidentes (CIPA), which translates to “Internal Commission for Accident Prevention.” The CIPA at our Taboão da Serra plant aids in the prevention of work-related accidents and contributes to the preservation of workers’ safety and well-being. The committee is led by Mario Estrela, Sherwin-Williams Research and Development Group Leader. Estrela, and the other employees on the committee are integral in planning SIPATMA each year.

Once the committee has chosen a date, the team works on developing an overarching theme that is topical for the year. The 2022 SIPATMA focused specifically on sustainability. During the event, the plant held three EHS-inspired lectures, an electronics recycling drive, a raffle with prizes and a variety of interactive learning opportunities.

“Everyone at the site looks forward to this event, as it is a favored tradition,” said Marco Costa, Sherwin-Williams EHS Director. “We discussed many topics, including food waste and our Lean workplace organization system. The goal is to change employees’ habits in the workplace, which hopefully translates to their home lives as well.”

In total, the most recent event hosted approximately 400 attendees, both in person and virtually. According to Adilson Trautmann, Sherwin-Williams Site Manager at the Taboão da Serra plant, employees felt that 2022 was the most successful SIPATMA to date. “The feedback was incredible. Everyone really felt like they were part of the event, and many said that it was the best SIPATMA of all time.”

This story is featured in the Sherwin-Williams 2022 Sustainability Report.