Safety inspections
GRI 403-2
Occupational health and safety measures are not simply aimed at protecting our own employees. 50Hertz’s stringent standards also apply to external subcontractors working across all of our sites. We ensure that subcontractors comply with our strict safety-related requirements through the tendering process and through the IT-supported monitoring of our projects, which is carried out by specially trained 50Hertz employees. The “Instructions for guaranteeing occupational safety when working with external companies on the transmission grid of 50Hertz” (OAFN) document sets out transparent and binding rules for our subcontractors to follow. An Agreement on Quality Assurance on Construction Sites is included in new subcontractor contracts. This agreement includes clauses that stipulate that 50Hertz has an unrestricted right to inspect these sites. In the reporting year, 538 construction site inspections were carried out (compared with 933 in 2020). In 2021, the quality of construction site inspections was improved and their number reduced through the introduction of an IT system and by concentrating inspection tasks on the work of operational quality assurance officers at each individual site. Safety and environmental protection incidents that involved external companies working on behalf of 50Hertz were analysed with the external companies concerned in accordance with a defined process. Measures to avoid similar accidents and incidents were defined, implemented and documented in line with guidance delivered by a central evaluation committee. In accordance with this process, a total of 69 environmental incidents, accidents, near-accidents and safety-related incidents were evaluated in the year under review.
In July 2021, in response to an increase in accidents (see below), the managing directors of all overhead line construction companies working for 50Hertz were invited to a “Dialogue about Occupational Safety” in order to share their views about accidents and their possible causes (including difficulties linked to dealing with subcontractors, promoting a culture of safety and awareness-raising measures). Further regular events of this kind are due to take place in future. In addition, safety instructions from 50Hertz are due to be distributed directly to its subcontractors; moreover, the number of subcontractors checks it undertakes are due to increase.