Put to the test

Implenia Sverige conducted its first Safety Week for staff in 2017. The centrepiece was an emergency drill conducted together with the fire department at the Johannelund construction site near Stockholm.

The alarm bell rings. Seconds later, the whole tunnelling team is on the move: calmly but quickly, the workers try to get out into the open air. When the headcount is taken at the assembly point, there’s a shock: one person is missing.

Fire-fighters with breathing apparatus rush into the tunnel which is now belching out thick smoke. They manage to rescue the missing worker; shortly afterwards they locate and extinguish the fire. All is well again.

Fortunately, the fire was only a realistically staged exercise designed by site managers in conjunction with the fire service to test and improve the effectiveness of Implenia’s emergency procedures: it’s much easier to respond correctly in a real crisis if you have practised what to do in a drill.

Fortunately, the fire was only a realistically staged exercise designed by site managers in conjunction with the fire service to test and improve the effectiveness of Implenia’s emergency procedures: it’s much easier to respond correctly in a real crisis if you have practised what to do in a drill.

Safety Week resulted in a noticeable improvement in participants’ capacity to deal with emergencies and accidents, while managers and Health & Safety Officers were able to identify where processes needed to be optimized. Heartened by the positive responses, Implenia Sverige immediately put a date in the diary for Safety Week 2018.