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30 August 2022

Femern A/S focuses on fall accidents

The safety of everyone working on the Fehmarn Belt project is high on the agenda for both Femern A/S and the contractors Fehmarn Link Contractors and Fehmarn Belt Contractors.

Through practical training and safety campaigns, Femern A/S works in collaboration with the contractors on the tunnel project towards creating one of the safest construction sites in Denmark and Germany.

As part of the safety initiative "Target Zero - a State of Mind", Femern A/S and the contractors FLC and FBC have carried out the second in a series of campaigns that educate employees on some of the most important safety aspects on a construction site. The focus of the first campaign was on driving and pedestrian traffic on the construction site. This time the topic was "Falling from low height". Numbers show that 7 out of 10 accidents when working at height occur when falling from a low height.

You are often more aware of the risks of falling when you work at heights for example on top of a building. The aim of the campaign is to increase safety awareness, improve the workers' ability to recognize hazards and improve the safety culture at the Fehmarn project.

As part of the campaign, four safety events have been carried out near the construction site with around 700 participants from the client and the contractor's employees.

"The campaign has been a great success, and we are very pleased with the high level of interest and commitment. Safety has the highest priority both for us as a client and for the contractors, so it makes sense to carry out joint efforts - especially when the feedback from the participants has been positive", says Anne Sofia Lønvig, Head of HSE at Femern A/S.

In the past two years since the project began, the Fehmarn project's lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) has been up 2.7. That means 2.7 accidents per 1 million working hours. For comparison, the construction industry's rate in 2020 was recorded at 24.5 for all employees.

"When we compare ourselves to the industry, our numbers are really good, but that does not mean, we can rest on our laurels. A strong safety culture does not come by itself, and it requires constant attention and training to achieve our goal of becoming one of the safest workplaces in Denmark and Germany. One accident is one too many, and that is why our safety initiative is called “Target Zero – a State of Mind", says Anne Sofia Lønvig.

The safety campaign will also be carried out on the German side at the end of 2022.

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Language: English

Language: English