A THEATRE PLAY TO RAISE RISK PREVENTION AWARENESS - COMPAGNIE D'ENTREPRISES CFE SA (AUDERGHEM)

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1 A THEATRE PLAY TO RAISE RISK PREVENTION AWARENESS - COMPAGNIE D'ENTREPRISES CFE SA (AUDERGHEM) 1. Organisations involved Compagnie d'entreprises CFE SA 2. Description of the case 2.1. Introduction CFE is a multidisciplinary group, active in construction, real estate, multitechnical, and marine engineering sectors. The group is located in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Central Europe, the Middle-East and Africa. The construction division is one of the five business divisions of the CFE group, all active in Belgium or abroad (about workers in 2010). This division is the initial activity of the CFE group, and is specialised in : construction of office buildings, housing, hotels, site facilities, schools and universities, shopping and recreation centers, hospitals, industrial buildings (laboratories, factories, energy plants, manufacturing halls, warehouses, building foundations, etc.), ports and airports renovation and transformation of buildings road works and railway infrastructures, noise reduction barriers, hydraulic works civil engineering works (tunnels, bridges, dams, locks), quay development, construction of jetties, water treatment plants and the associated electromechanical works, smoke treatment, pile driving, gas operator terminals, wind turbine farms, etc. This division includes: Aannemingen Van Wellen, Amart, BAGECI, BPC, CFE Brabant, CFE Rômania, CFE EcoTech, CFE Hungary, CFE International, CFE Middle East (49%), CFE Nederland, CFE Polska, CFE Slovakia, CFE Tunisia, CLE, Geka, Groep Terryn and MBG. Safety is a top priority at the CFE group and is based on the following statements: the health and safety of each employee and all parties concerned, as well as respect for the environment and the work place, are central elements of the CFE group safety policy "to work in the safest possible way and see to the safety of others" is a condition for working at CFE accidents and incidents can be avoided the resources and methods required for their prevention are made available and must be used the desire to constantly improve in the area of safety, health and environment is a factor of productivity and quality and is thus a source of profitability each individual is responsible in his or her own way for abiding the safety policy and standards, directives and procedures Health and safety management systems are therefore applied within the CFE group. When new employees join the team, a training on safety is part of the welcoming. CFE invests heavily 1

2 in training and continuing education for all employees to maintain high safety standards. To ensure that safety remains an integral part of the corporate culture, both senior managers and workers in the plant are constantly kept aware of safety matters. In 2008, CFE developed a new idea: a theatre play to show to all operational workers in the construction division to spark a debate and hear suggestions for improvements to ensure safety remains a daily concern and priority. The main objective of CFE remains to get "zero accident at work" Aims CFE s objective is to make its employees aware of the risks they face during working hours using an innovative method that is appealing to them What was done, and how? Training and health and safety at work are two areas of major importance to the entire CFE group. The company s managing director Renaud Bentégeat, summarises the issue as follows: People come to work at CFE to earn their living, not to lose their ability to do so. Several years ago, CFE increased efforts to lower the number of accidents at work, even though the company's accident rate was better than the national average. Without informing job site personnel, Renaud Bentégeat sent a filming team to various sites. This team filmed employees while they were working and applying safety measures during their work. At the same time, CFE conducted a safety survey amongst site and project managers. This survey was based on the evolution of the safety rates, the type and number of injuries, the causes of injuries and accidents. Management personnel indicated in the survey that they felt that CFE scored top marks in the area of safety, a perception that was unfortunately completely contradicted by the images that were filmed earlier during working time. CFE then developed educational programmes in collaboration with the union delegation. The programmes included rules to be followed on site, information sessions for newcomers, and extended tool trainings. For example, CFE established a list containing ten non-negotiable rules, such as Wearing a helmet is mandatory on the job site. This list was developed in close co-operation between all the safety advisors, the various Personnel departments, the Union delegations, and management members of the CFE group. Moreover, each meeting on site starts with a discussion on safety issues. One year following the implementation of this list, work accidents dropped off by 50%. Over the following years, while the number of accidents did not increase, neither did it diminish. Since CFE s objective is zero accidents, it was time to adopt a new plan. The idea that the theatre could serve as the basis for a prevention policy over two years seemed an obvious choice. The company decided to contact the Construction industry Professional Training Fund to discuss a theatre production that would be both educational and amusing. The process was initiated from scratch. It brought together prevention personnel, job site personnel, other staff and actors, both French and Dutch speaking, to identify subjects and to decide how to deal with them. The theatrical group Marteau Théâtre indicated its willingness to collaborate in the project. The play's title arose spontaneously: "It's only temporary, Boss!". This is something that is heard frequently on job sites in unsafe work situations. The basic concept called for a two-act play. The first act deals with what should not be done, while 2

3 the second act shows how it should be done. The play's director noticed that the script for the first act was significantly longer than that for the second act. The Construction Professional Training Fund was immediately enthusiastic about the CFE training project. They deemed the project inspirational; however, their analysis of the training content highlighted a need for CFE to widen the project's perspective to include a debate and a training session. In the first phase of the project, employees saw the play. Later the same day, they participated in a debate as part of a training format. What did they recognise? What could be improved? After several performances, several clear conclusions could be drawn. These included: Safety oriented meetings were perceived as being overly administrative. They should be structured more along practical and educational lines. Often, mention of small incidents is neglected. Yet many accidents could be avoided if the small incidents were examined and analysed closely. After the job site personnel saw the performances, all other company employees saw the play and heard the suggestions made after the performance. These suggestions were then categorised by subject in the workshops. They were discussed with the job safety committee and the union representative who co-authored the play. Site managers stopped operations on the job sites for a few hours to allow the theatre production to take place, an action that sent out quite a strong signal. This action was approved at all levels of the company. To go further with this initiative, which consisted in keeping the "We work to earn our living not to lose our lives" motto constantly in mind, CFE produced two films, from December 2010 to January Their subjects were interviews with CFE employees who have suffered serious accidents and interviews with the superiors of these employees. As CFE is made up of different business divisions, the first film concentrated on cases concerning the construction division while the second addressed those in the multi-technical division. In the case of the films, CFE chose to let victims talk about their accidents including the circumstances, the effects on their physical integrity, their health and well-being, their families, their jobs and their futures. They also interviewed the hurt employees' superiors, who explained why and how the accidents occurred and what has changed because of them What was achieved? The Training/Production performances by the troupe Marteau Théâtre troupe were given primarily in November and December of Nearly 1,200 workers attended the sessions, in groups of 80 people, and then participated in the discussions. The performances were given in four theatres, two in French and two in Dutch. In January 2009, the play was performed at a convention of the construction division of the CFE Group and was used as the basis of a new safety action plan with a target for improving safety results as spectacular as that of 2005, where CFE decreased the number of accidents at work by two over the period of one year. The theatre play was made available to other Group entities and is used in seminars, day training sessions and other events. The films were shown at operational crossroads sessions, attended by 600 people from the construction division and 160 people from the multi-technical branch. In addition, the companies in the divisions involved all received a copy of the films in order to show them to the entire staff. 3

4 In all, in the two divisions, over 3,000 people will be brought face to face with the victims of accidents. Fig 1. Evolution of incidence rate in the construction department of CFE. In early 2010, the Belgian section of the European Club for Health, backed by the Federal Public Service of Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, awarded the CFE group the "Health & Company" prize for its play Success factors The success of this initiative is due to the involvement of company staff at the conception phase of the process and all throughout its development, as well as the involvement of all management levels in the company. The recreational aspect of the theatre piece is an effective and innovative means of getting the message through to employees. The films had a significant impact on employees because they were based on true accounts of workers who were involved in serious accidents and who described the lasting repercussions of these accidents on their daily lives Further information Compagnie D'Entreprises CFE SA Personne de contact : Yves Weyts or Terry Somers Adresse : Avenue Herrmann-Debroux 42, 1160 AUDERGHEM Tél. : 02/ Fax: 02/ yweyts@cfe.be tsomers@cfe.be 4

5 2.7. Transferability These two initiatives, the play and the films, can be used in other companies or in other business sectors, but it is essential that management play an extremely active role in the process and that the employees be involved at the beginning of the conception stage so that they recognise the situations used as examples. Both the theatre play and the film can be used as training supports in seminars, day training sessions and other events. 3. References, resources: 5