News and Press Releases

Information sheet re the May 31 accident

In regard to the events of May 31, 2006, we would like to point out the following:

• Project assignment based on a study by the Swedish company BMH

After assessing the above study, TITAN assigned to MESKA company the project of expanding the ship loading machine at TITAN’s Elefsina plant. Given that the project requires specific expertise, a bidding process was carried out among interested companies. The assignment to MESKA was based on the fact that it could meet the special specifications of this project and has the appropriate infrastructure, expertise, and experience to handle demanding works. For more than 20 years MESKA has been active in the field, having successfully responded to similar contracts with TITAN and other large industries.

• Launching of the project and time of accident

On May 31, 2006, the employees of MESKA arrived at the TITAN’s port facilities in Elefsina to prepare the launching of the project according to the agreed specifications. The accident happened at 11:00 a.m., causing the death of two MESKA’s and the injury of three MESKA’s and two TITAN’s employees.

• Immediate response despite the strike of EKAB

The Fire Service and EKAB (National Center for Emergency Assistance) were immediately called by TITAN’s management. For the record, EKAB’s employees were on strike that day. TITAN instantly sent their ambulance from the nearby Elefsina plant, plus the ambulance of TITAN’s plant in Kamari which is located at 10 km from the Elefsina port. At the same time two EKAB ambulances arrived, after the kind intervention of the Mayor of Elefsina. From the first moment of the accident TITAN’s managerial staff was hands on to coordinate all the required actions and work with the authorities in charge to investigate the causes of the accident.

• First Aid and treatment for the injured

'The Elefsina plant’s physician and his assistant arrived immediately at the scene of the accident to give first aid to the injured who were then transferred to the Thriasio General Hospital. Two of them had to undergo immediate surgery, after which they were transferred at the H. Dynan hospital, as there was no intensive care unit available in Thriassio. The rest of the injured were transferred to Metropolitan Hospital, since Thriasio was not on duty that day. All transfers had the full consent of TITAN’s medical team.

• Care and support of victims and their families

From the first moment of the accident, the medical team of the plant in Elefsina, TITAN’s social workers and management stood by the injured employees and the families of the victims, doing everything possible to comfort and support them. At the same time, blood was donated to the injured by TITAN’s Blood Bank.

• Cooperation of TITAN with the authorities to identify the causes of the accident and eliminate the possibilities of such a thing happening again

TITAN implements policies that, according to the below data, have systematically improved safety at work. Today (June 2006), the performance of TITAN Cement in accident prevention compares with the performance of the industry in 15 European countries.

ACCIDENT FREQUENCY INDEX TITAN CEMENTS

FREQUENCY INDEX = number of accidents x 1,000,000 / total man-hours accrued,

The Greek cement industry has shown zero fatal accident rates in the last four years, while the frequency indexes have been reduced by half compared to previous decades.