Risk awareness at the heart of Grundfos Health & Safety Week

Risk identification and management were at the heart of a series of special events and activities at Grundfos Gulf last month, as the company supported Grundfos’ International Safety Week – part of the Group’s worldwide focus on Health and Safety.

A week of activities started with an introductory on-line training session designed to increase risk awareness at all levels. Produced by the Grundfos Group, the on-line training was a must for all staff worldwide and set the scene for a full range of support activities over the following days.

Under the banner ‘Remember, Safety doesn’t happen by Accident’ members of the Grundfos Gulf management team undertook a ‘Safety Walk’ during which they toured the offices and talked with individual staff on a face-to-face basis to discuss health and safety issues and reinforce the importance of effective risk identification and management, not only for individuals, but for their colleagues and for the company as a whole.

With fire safety high on the week’s agenda, local Fire Brigades attended for emergency evacuation training, stressing the importance of reacting quickly and coolly to a fire or similar emergency. Staff were shown where and how to raise the alarm; the location of emergency exits and assembly points and how to ensure that all of their team members were safely evacuated. The key message throughout was not to panic, with staff shown how to keep themselves and their colleagues safe throughout the emergency.

To check that the week’s activities had been effective, staff took part in a safety quiz, followed by the highlight of the week – a competition designed to put their hazards identification skills to the test. In a designated area of the warehouse that had been specially prepared to include a number of typical hazard situations, individuals were invited to identify as many hazards as possible.

At the end of the week, staff gathered for a final event, during which prizes were awarded to the persons gaining most points in the quiz and competition.

Grundfos Gulf General Manager, Kostas Poulopoulos along with Senior Quality Officer, Seeja Kumar had been responsible for the various events and activities, said. “Safety is at the heart of the Grundfos culture and it is important that that all staff are not only aware of the dangers that lurk around them in the working environment, but that they take the message home to their family and friends, as well as to our customers and other stakeholders.

“We deliberately mixed serious safety training with more lighthearted activities and the week turned out to be great success, with staff keen to get involved at every stage.”