In occupational safety, the focus is on measures to raise employee awareness of safe practices while designing safe work systems. Successful “We all take care” projects are evidence of this.
If you spend just 15 seconds thinking about the activity you are about to begin, you will avoid on-the-job accidents. That’s the message from a Vibracoustic team in Bursa, Turkey. To sensitize employees to this simple yet effective approach, the team organized a safety-related scavenger hunt during which participants had to identify 28 hazardous situations in the production area. Using the 15 second rule, the facility’s safety-awareness was heightened.
The Freudenberg Performance Materials site in Nantong, China, restructured its production processes, increasing efficiency while eliminating safety hazards. A redesign of the system made it possible to optimize individual work steps, in some cases involving manual interventions, and reduce their number. An online error recognition system was also implemented. It not only sped up the inspection process – it reduced the amount of work needed for quality inspections. The team not only eliminated safety risks – it boosted efficiency by 20 percent.
The internal Safety Boost initiative continued in 2021. It continually intensified and focused job safety activities. Unsafe situations, work accidents, environmental incidents posing high risks were investigated and reported Freudenberg-wide.
The focus on safety culture resulted in various programs in the Business Groups, such as ViBeS (Vibracoustic Be Safe!). As part of the project, an app was first developed and distributed to communicate information on HSE activities. During the corona pandemic, it also provided employees with news relating to the virus. This made it possible to link various kinds of information, training and contact persons to a central location. This facilitated communication and promoted acceptance.
In 2021, the Safety Boost initiative 2021 zeroed in on maintenance, training, and discussion of pro-active safety metrics.