There have already been serious accidents on TenneT construction sites. The transmission grid builder now wants to intensively prepare its employees for work on large construction sites in two new training centers.
Safety is a major issue on construction sites and an even bigger issue on large construction sites. Plant manufacturer TenneT is breaking new ground in terms of safety for the two major projects Südlink and Südostlink.
Each of the approximately 10,000 people who will be employed in the future – from site managers to simple workers – is to have completed safety training in a TenneT training center. There is one in Hamburg and one in Nuremberg. The training courses began recently.
Projection technology and actor
In Nuremberg, around 20 people gather in a special room – the operators call it “the igloo”. The surfaces are actually white all around. But they can be projected with film sequences by several projectors. Like in a modern TV studio. And then the participants find themselves in the middle of a large construction site. A semi-trailer is fully loaded with thick, black underground cables for the new direct current line.
Suddenly there is a rush, it gets loud. Suddenly two of the construction workers are standing in the middle of the room, arguing about work. “Just listen to me!” “Hey, no shouting here – if you do, I’ll shout, get to work!” scolds the construction manager, who is actually an actor. But the participants hardly realize this. The scenario seems surprisingly real.
Recognize dangers and Sources of conflict discover
The topic is dangerous situations – which often result in accidents with serious consequences. TenneT wants to break new ground with the special safety training.
All employees who will soon be building the two large power lines, Südlink and Südostlink, will have to complete a training day here beforehand, explains safety manager Bernd Albrecht. “Every death is one too many, and that’s why we believe that this investment is definitely worth it. We believe that you can always spend money on it if it is safe and people come home safe and sound.”
Centres set up for a limited time
TenneT does not want to say exactly how much money the company is investing in the training. The first courses are currently taking place, and all employees are to be trained over the next few months, regardless of whether they are working directly for TenneT or for subcontractors.
Florian Düring will soon be working on the large construction site for his company, the Beuerlein construction company. He was surprised “how people came in and acted along to the film. You definitely remember more than if you were sitting in a hall with 180 people and someone was telling you something at the front, plus there were hundreds of flipcharts.” He knows this from other safety training courses.
Goal: Greater attention among participants
“It takes you along in a completely different way than a normal online training course,” adds Felix Schüller. He is a technical planner at TenneT and is also taking part in the training. It was particularly moving when it came to a specific death.
Florian Raspel, project manager at Bögl, also liked the training, “because you are actively involved and don’t just sit there.” That is part of the concept. The actors don’t just act out the scenarios; they keep approaching the audience, asking for tips and asking for help in resolving the situation. After feedback sessions with the trainers, some of the scenes are acted out again in order to possibly influence the events in a new way.
Demonstrations no training topic
The new power lines are quite controversial locally. Demonstrations or even blockades could take place at the construction sites. But that has not been an issue at the training center so far; TenneT handles it differently, says Bernd Albrecht, manager for occupational safety for these projects.
“That’s why we have our communications department, our resident managers, who get in touch with the population and try to resolve the conflicts there.” But such scenarios are theoretically possible in this environment too.
Special risk of accidents on construction sites – preventing deaths
In the new training centers, such as the one in Nuremberg, they try to work through various possible courses of action and convey arguments and strategies to the participants so that they can assert themselves against superiors when safety and, ultimately, life and limb are in danger.
In recent years, there have been serious accidents on TenneT construction sites, including fatalities. The new training is part of a new so-called zero harm strategy and is intended to help prevent this from happening in the future.