News
Safety first
Weinheim, June 26, 2008. The "Safety Scout" puts on his hi-vis jacket and sets out on his round. Today, he is on the look-out for anything that might pose a danger to his colleagues. For the next month the trainee in the training workshop at Freudenberg will have a particularly responsible job to do.
Anyone who has been in training at Freudenberg for at least two years can take on this job, together with an experienced colleague who is already performing this role since two weeks. The area covered by these safety-conscious youngsters is the entire training workshop in Weinheim, particularly the tool store. The Safety Scouts are responsible for ensuring that only properly tested and safe equipment is handed out from the store. Among other things, this means that the equipment must comply with the relevant statutory safety regulations. The Scouts also go on their rounds, checking that everything is being done properly. If they observe anything that contravenes the safety rules - a cable laid in the wrong place for example or an emergency exit that is blocked - they can and indeed must act. They are even authorized to issue instructions to other trainees. They can always count on support from the health and safety officers.
"As Safety Scouts these young people learn right from the start how important safety is", said Roland Watzal, the man who initiated the project. "They are very much accepted by their peers because they talk to them as equals", said the head of Technical Training. The search for risks and solutions to ensure safe work practices has an interesting side-effect in that the quality of work improves thanks to the critical eyes and constructive advice of the Safety Scouts. And there is a twofold benefit to their contribution to the safety of all concerned: Firstly, the knowledge they gain about industrial health and safety will stand them in good stead in all their future jobs, and secondly they receive a certificate at the end of their work as a Scout.
This activity, which has its roots in a project by a Freudenberg company in Korea in 2003, has now been chosen by the Management Board for the "Best Follower" award as part of the "We all take care" programme. At the award ceremony, Dr. Martin Stark of the Management Board pointed out that the subject of safety does not run counter to any other objectives, quite the opposite in fact. "A good factory is one in which the standards of health and safety are as high as the standards of efficiency and quality. Then it is no coincidence if a site remains accident-free", said Dr. Stark. He urged everyone to deal with "near-misses" in a spirit of openness. "We have to be honest with ourselves and praise those who dare to point out unsafe practices."
More than 300 projects were entered this year for the "We all take care" award for better health and safety and for improvements in environmental protection. Each year several hundred teams take part in the "We all take care" programme with ideas and concrete action at more than 170 sites in 53 countries, from Norway to South Africa and from Argentina to China. The programme calls on all employees to raise standards of health and safety for themselves and for their colleagues and to improve environmental protection.
Freudenberg employees from Germany, Italy and Mexico received the awards from Dr. Martin Stark as representatives of their sites. Freudenberg Nonwovens in Weinheim received first prize for a training programme for employees and managers. The Freudenberg Group, together with the Berufsgenossenschaft Leder (the accident insurance institution for the German leather industry), provided training courses in health and safety over several months for managers. The second place went to two prize-winners. The Mexican site of Cuautla in the Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership was one of the prize-winners two years ago for a scheme for preventing accidents. The Mexicans expanded the programme into an active health care scheme with examinations and treatment free of charge. This initiative, in conjunction with the state health care provision, has become a pilot project for other companies in Mexico.
Also in second place were the two sites of Freudenberg Seals and Vibration Control Technology, Freudenberg Pressing and Forming Technology (Form- und Umstanztechnik) in Weinheim/Germany and FAPAM in Luserna San Giovanni/Italy. In Weinheim the dangerous forklift trucks were completely banned from the production site and the Italian sister plant is on its way to forklift-free production. The third prize went to Freudenberg Production Systems and Tool Engineering (Anlagen- und Werkzeugtechnik) in Neuenburg for a neat idea for improving safety in loading the machines. The projects should serve as excellent examples to be emulated. The successful example of know-how transfer was also selected for a Best Follower Award. And this award this year went to the Safety Scout project at the training workshop in Weinheim.
Cornelia Buchta-Noack
Freudenberg & Co. KG
External Communications
Phone +49 6201 - 80-4094
Fax +49 6201 - 88-4094
cornelia.buchta-noack@freudenberg.de
Markus Rademacher
Freudenberg & Co. KG
External Communications
Phone +49 6201 - 80-4049
Fax +49 6201 - 88-4049
markus.rademacher@freudenberg.de
Contact Freudenberg Group North America:
Cheryl Eberwein
47690 East Anchor Court
Plymouth, Mich. 48170-2455
Office: +1 (734) 354-5373
Cell: +1 (248) 767-1068
Fax: +1 (734) 451-0043