5.3. Inspections

GRI 403-2, GRI 403-3

Occupational health and safety protection is not limited to our own employees.

Elia group’s stringent standards also apply to external subcontractors working across all of Elia group sites. During the contracting process and later, every effort is made to ensure that suppliers comply with Elia group’s strict safety requirements.

Both the Safety Team and management carry out inspections on a regular basis.

ELIA IN BELGIUM

After the successful introduction of the Safety Culture Ladder certification system in 2020, an intermediate audit of our practices in this area was carried out in 2021. The audit reconfirmed that Elia Transmission Belgium’s practices are aligned with a level 3 on the Safety Culture Ladder Scale, included recommendations for the organisation and indicated that the organisation was making positive progress towards a level 4 certification. The use of the Safety Culture Ladder is also being rolled out for our contractors to use and adhere to.Operational managers and the Safety Team regularly visit our sites to observe how activities are organised and carried out, both by our own teams and those of our subcontractors.

Safety-related visits of our workplaces and staff behaviour are an essential part of the dynamic risk management system. Listening to and observing management allows methods and equipment to be adapted. Moreover, management coaching allows staff to be supported to properly implement the company’s methods and behaviours.

We have adapted these safety-related visits to promote specific behaviours that characterise a proactive safety culture throughout the company: Transparency and the Willingness to Learn.

In the reporting year, 1142 construction sites visits were carried out. Besides the safety-related visits for our own personnel Elia Transmission Belgium NV/SA also has a dedicated Contractor Safety team which performs at least 175 visits per year. The visits are aligned with those performed with our own staff. The focus of the visits points out the responsibility of the work leader and is aiming to create real safety leaders.

50HERTZ IN GERMANY

50Hertz Transmission GmbH ensures that its suppliers comply with the highest safety standards by having specially trained staff carry out construction inspections.

Transparent and binding regulations for ensuring that occupational safety measures are enforced by external companies working in 50Hertz Transmission GmbH’s control area are in place. Quality assurance measures related to construction sites which are used by subcontractors are included in all new contracts. The latter include clauses stipulating that 50Hertz Transmission GmbH has an unrestricted right to carry out inspections of these sites. In the reporting year, 538 construction site inspections were carried out (933 in 2020). Overall, the quality of construction site inspections was improved and their number reduced. This was achieved by introducing an IT-supported 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 Transmission GmbH 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 following guidance of 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, the managing directors of all overhead line construction companies working for 50Hertz Transmission GmbH were invited to a “Dialogue on 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 planned in future. In addition, safety instructions from 50Hertz Transmission GmbH are due to be distributed directly to its subcontractors; moreover, its checks of subcontractors are due to increase.