Safety-STOP

Dear colleagues

Time and again, Suva visits our workplaces and finds conditions that are untenable. It may seem like a small thing: A meter of missing railing, a small embankment without proof, cracks and constrictions in a duct, just looking over the edge of the roof, a bit of a mess so that you have to swerve onto the road.

In fact, it is precisely these kinds of situations and actions that pose the kind of dangers you read about in the newspapers time and again: employees buried, run over and killed.

The danger is real. People die at work every week and, unfortunately, Implenia has also had painful experiences of this. We don't need Suva to remind us of this. We all see it for ourselves and know what needs to be done. But we really have to do it: stop, say something, act.

Hence our appeal: If you see something, act. If you are doing something and realize that it is not right, stop and only continue when it is safe. Act consistently, every time. This is the only way we can make a habit of stopping, talking to others and being talked to, reflecting and improving.

To this end, we suspend work for a quarter of an hour at all commercial workplaces in Switzerland. These 15 minutes are to be carried out in addition to the usual monthly training sessions. With this Safety-STOP, we also want to show that despite all the pressure and the will to get on with good work, there must always be time for safety. Saving a few minutes of time can never make up for a human life.

We wish you a lively short talk and remember to say STOP. For yourselves and for your colleagues.

Best regards

Christian Späth Head Division Civil Engineering and IEC Delegate Safety

Jens Vollmar Head Division Buildings