Assessing the effectiveness of a corporate environmental education program for primary aluminium industry workers in Brazil

Abstract

The material of this research was developed from a study done in a production unit, denominated reduction III, of a primary aluminium industry, in the city of Ouro Preto, situated in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The exploratory study evaluated the influence that environmental education training could exercise in controlling the pollution caused by the enterprise. The purpose of the project being that of training the workers of this unit, in a short time, on the subject of environmental protection. The pro-environmental training, in practice, benefits the technological monitoring system of pollution control in that aluminium plant. The methodological approach employed was a case study, with the registered data and documentation, of a specific project in furnace rooms 3 and 4 of reduction III. After the environmental training program, there was a definitive positive alteration in the environmental performance indicator graph, called 'open-door-time' of the furnaces. It showed more coherent figures. Although the ideal daily open-door-target time of 40 minutes was not achieved, the graph showed figures which closely approximated this ideal time. If there are continued investments in this environmental education program, the ideal target time is sure to be reached.