Work Safety
Work Safety
The Zero Harm Mindset
The Lausward plant construction site showcases Siemens’
global commitment to a safe work environment. In addition to
respecting environmental as well as human resources, this
approach creates an added value for investors.
Text: Barbara Simpson Photos: Anna Schroll
Contracted workers Soner Örebas (front) and Admir Racic apply the shell to the chimney trunks at Lausward, wearing protective gloves, safety goggles and hard hats.
B
efore entering the construction
site of the new Lausward cogeneration power plant in Düsseldorf, Germany – located less than
five kilometers, as the crow flies,
from the city center in the old industrial harbor on a loop of the River
Rhine – one faces a huge mirror. Today, the number displayed at the top
64 Living Energy · No. 11 | November 2014
of this mirror is 431: the number of
days without accident on the construction site. It’s also the number of
days the Siemens-managed site has
been operating altogether. Every
worker passing the gate looks into
the mirror and reads in black letters
above head height: “YOU are responsible for work safety.” There is no
mistaking that there is a strong emphasis on communicating safety issues at Lausward.
“We want to create safety awareness
on an individual as well as a collective level,” says Katrin Weissenborn,
Environmental Health and Safety
(EHS) Manager at Siemens, who is responsible for maintaining the company’s high safety standards at power
plant construction sites worldwide.
“The impeccable track record of zero
incidents here at Lausward means
that EHS guidelines have become an
integral component of the work routine. This indicates a broad understanding of safety issues by everyone, the Siemens crew as well as our
contractors.”
Siemens validates that understanding with its decades of experience
and competence in large-scale construction. “Our commitment to strict
standards is a hallmark of our work
worldwide,” says Weissenborn. “We
aim to implement our benchmarks in
every country we work in.”
Risk avoidance in four stages
According to the DuPont Bradley
Curve, the evolution of safety awareness can be seen as a progression of
four successive mindsets. Each mental advancement reduces the occurrence of accidents. First comes the
reactive stage, in which staying safe
is a matter of natural instincts and
luck, and responsibility might be delegated to a safety officer. The second
stage introduces a set of safety regulations, with adherence being monitored. At this level, the perception is
that safety can be achieved if everyone follows the rules. This mindset is
followed by the realization that safety
is a matter of individual responsibility, based on the internalization of
standards and knowledge. A further
reduction of accidents may be attained if this individual commitment
is extended to care for others, enhancing safety awareness in teams.
Each mental transition – from reaction to dependence, on to independence and finally interdependence –
requires about three years, far
exceeding the typical lifetime of a
construction site of two-and-a-half
years. “This is why our target can
only be the transition from one
mindset to the next in the course of
a construction period,” Weissenborn
explains. Lausward is currently on
the cusp of advancing from the dependence to the independence stage,
as seen in the increasing implementation of safety measures at the individual level. Achieving this transition
also entails a change of management
style from supervision to coaching.
“Control will only get us so far. Further improvement of the safety performance can only be attained by enabling employees and by coaching
them to take responsibility for their
own safety and that of others,”
Weissenborn adds.
EHS manager Katrin
Weissenborn’s goal is
to empower and
coach employees at
power plant construction sites worldwide
to take responsibility
for their own safety
and that of others.
“We aim to implement our safety
benchmarks in
every country we
work in.”
Katrin Weissenborn
EHS improves quality, timing, and cost-efficiency
Siemens recently launched the “Zero
Harm Culture” campaign at plant
construction sites worldwide, based
on the belief that every Siemens employee and contractor has the right
to a safe work environment. Its goal
of zero lost-time incidents is ambitious, yet based on Siemens’ expertise of managing large-scale construction sites, says Werner Nagiller,
site manager at Lausward. “If someone asks you whether you would
rather have a job done safe or fast,
then something has gone very, very
wrong with the planning,” he explains. “EHS concerns are an integral
part of a well-managed construction
site and go hand in hand with quality, timing, and cost-efficiency. Good
EHS management definitely creates
an added value for our customers.”
The challenge remains to impress the
same high level of EHS at every construction site, whether large or small,
in Europe or Asia. “To this end, we try
to advance the safety mindset,” says
Nagiller. “We have been setting sitespecific rules and have each contractor sign this document. We respect
our co-workers, listen to them, and
make sure they have the right tools.”
The approach works: With a Lost
Time Accident Frequency Rate (incidents per 100,000 man hours) of 0.06
in power plant construction, Siemens
sets the industry benchmark.
“All workers on a Siemens site
around the world, including myself,
want to go home to their families at
night, unharmed,” says Nagiller.
“That’s a universal principle that applies to all of us. And achieving that
standard certainly gives us a competitive advantage.” p
Barbara Simpson, is a freelance journalist
based in Zurich, Switzerland, covering
­technology and business topics.
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Siemens Publications App for iPad or
Android tablets at
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Living Energy · No. 11 | November 2014 65