The ceremony of the DEKRA AWARD 2015
Award ceremony at the Stuttgarter Kunstmuseum
DEKRA Award - Ceremony 2015
DEKRA Award for top performance
Safety Champions 2015 honoured
On 27 October, DEKRA held a ceremony to bestow the DEKRA Awards 2015. In total, two companies and initiatives met the high standards and were chosen as Safety Champions 2015: EDEKA Handelsgesellschaft Südbayern mbH (road category) and Eaton Industries GmbH (work category).
The global expert organization DEKRA refocused the renowned DEKRA Award this year. Together with WirtschaftsWoche, Germany’s leading economics magazine, DEKRA sought Safety Champions in three categories: safety on the road, at work and at home.
"Safety is a megatrend. Our modern, mechanised world offers many conveniences, but also exposes us to lots of risks," said Stefan Kölbl, Chairman of the Management Board of DEKRA e.V. and DEKRA SE, at the awards ceremony at Stuttgart’s art museum. "Safety is one of humankind’s core basic needs. With the DEKRA Award, we want to show specifically how companies, organisations and initiatives make the world safer."
In a multi-stage selection process, candidates had to meet demanding criteria – for example regarding the degree of innovation, efficiency and transferability of the solution presented. A high-calibre jury finally identified outstanding achievements that deserve the DEKRA Award 2015:
"Safety on the road"
A truck's blind spot is a real hazard for pedestrians and cyclists. EDEKA Handelsgesellschaft Südbayern has developed and tested a turning assistant for trucks and rolled it out to the entire fleet. The assistant is intended to prevent accidents when a truck turns by warning the driver of road users in the blind spot with an acoustic signal and via monitor. The assistant can be installed in any truck regardless of manufacturer.
"Safety at work"
Falling down steps is one of the most common workplace accidents. Eaton Industries has put up "shadow people" at all of its 720 sites across the globe. These are silhouettes on the walls that remind and ask people to use the handrail. At low cost, the concept has ensured that the overwhelming majority of employees now use the handrails.
The jury did not award a prize in the "Safety at home" category this year. None of the candidates met the jury’s strict criteria, or applications were submitted that could not win a prize according to the guidelines of the DEKRA Award, such as products or advertising initiatives.
The jury comprised:
- Katrin Altpeter, State Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Family, Women and the Elderly in Baden-Württemberg.
- Dr. Raimund Klinkner, CEO of Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL) and Honorary Professor of Production Logistics at the Technical University of Berlin, Managing Director of the IMX Institute for Manufacturing Excellence.
- Stefan Kölbl, Chairman of the DEKRA e.V. and DEKRA SE Management Board.
- Hatto Mattes, Ministerial Councillor in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Head of the Department for Product and Plant Safety, International Technological Harmonization, and the Transport of Hazardous Goods.
- Professor Miriam Meckel, Chairwoman of the Jury, chief editor of WirtschaftsWoche.
In the previous year, the winners were EnBW Baden-Württemberg AG ("Health"), SBS Feintechnik GmbH ("Safety") and Voith AG ("Environment").
At the awards ceremony, the partnership between DEKRA and the DocStop association was affirmed and further support for the initiative pledged for the years to come. DocStop was founded to improve medical care en route for professional truck drivers. Unwell truck drivers can get contact details for a nearby medical practice or hospital with parking facilities by calling a hotline 24 hours a day 365 days a year. This improves occupational health and safety at the workplace in the truck and increases road safety.