Technical safety management of ARA Pustertal AG

High risk of accidents at wastewater treatment plants

In addition to the usual dangers such as tripping hazards, electrical current and heavy machinery and goods, there are also dangers at wastewater treatment plants that are not visible at first glance, such as toxic gases.

This is why accidents in the wastewater treatment sector often end fatally, as recently happened in Sicily. Five employees of a sewage treatment plant there suffocated to death. According to media reports, some of the men had complained of nausea and shortness of breath - possibly due to poisoning with hydrogen sulphide. A seventh worker managed to leave the plant and raise the alarm. The other six were trapped and had fainted from the gas fumes.

High risk of accidents at wastewater treatment plants

TSM of ARA Pustertal AG

Occupational health and safety is therefore a top priority at ARA Pustertal AG.
Employees are continuously instructed in all necessary safety courses and made aware of dangers.

However, as this was not enough for us, the company's internal TSM, the 'Technical Safety Management', was set up over 14 years ago.

Excerpt from the management manual of ARA Pustertal AG:

The technical safety management was nominated by the employer - although not specified by D.Lgs. 81/08. It consists of one representative from each wastewater treatment plant and main collector. Its tasks are to support the employer in the implementation of occupational safety and to initiate improvements, as well as to sensitize employees with regard to occupational health and safety.

This TSM team now visits all five ARA Pustertal AG plants every year together with the external LDAS (head of the occupational safety department) and the safety spokesperson.

The idea behind this is to overcome the so-called 'plant blindness'.
This refers to the phenomenon that people often no longer recognize dangers in their own familiar environment. Someone who comes from an external plant, however, walks through the plant with different eyes and can thus help to recognize dangers and thus avoid accidents.

TSM of ARA Pustertal AG — safely to your destination

Security: a continuous development

The TSM team therefore actively supports the employer by first trying to find technical, then organizational and finally personal protective measures and integrating them into the company. To this end, a list of instructions is drawn up during each inspection, which is then implemented. This can sometimes be just a lack of signs or a hazardous substance without a risk assessment, but it can also be that a work step is completely questioned and the work is reorganized as a result. We also check whether there are any new laws that need to be implemented and applied in the company.

Last but not least, with the many technical modifications and adaptations in our plants, it makes sense to take a targeted critical look at them with a focus on occupational safety.
This ensures that occupational health and safety does not remain at the same level, but is constantly adapted to changes in the world of work and legislation and is therefore always kept up to date.

The success of these measures is also confirmed by our auditors, who consistently attest to our very good and exemplary occupational health and safety practices.

The TOP principle:

TOP is an abbreviation and stands for technical, organizational and personal protective safety procedures. Technical precautions always have priority in the order of priority, followed by organizational and then personal protective measures.

Technical methods: These include the use of technical aids or modifications to a work tool, machine or process in order to reduce hazards. Technical protective measures work autonomously, i.e. without the further intervention of people. The aim is not "only" to reduce the hazards, but to prevent them from becoming effective in the first place, e.g. by physically separating the source of the hazard from people.

Organizational methods: These are changes in the organization of work or processes to protect employees.

Personal methods: If hazards cannot be sufficiently minimized by technical or organizational measures, personal protective equipment should be provided and worn by employees.