Health, Safety, Environment & Quality

We take ac­tion for our HSEQ

Set­ting the highest stand­ards. Then ex­ceed­ing them.

HSEQ is­n’t just a pri­or­ity for us and for our cli­ents, it’s a pre­requis­ite. Se­cur­ing health, safety, the en­vir­on­ment and qual­ity is simply es­sen­tial and something that we must prac­tice every day. Both now and in the fu­ture.

HSEQ is every­one’s re­spons­ib­il­ity, and we work tire­lessly with our HSEQ ex­cel­lence net­work and col­leagues around the world to con­tinu­ously im­prove our local and global pro­grammes. This in­volves con­stantly search­ing for ways to min­im­ise risks and op­tim­ise pro­cesses to bring about con­tinu­ous im­prove­ments pro­act­ively – for the be­ne­fit of every­one we work with, for our en­vir­on­ment and for the qual­ity of all our pro­jects.

From em­ploy­ees on site and in the of­fices to the mem­bers of the ex­ec­ut­ive board – health, safety, the en­vir­on­ment and qual­ity are al­ways at the top of our minds.

Contact our global expert

Michael Sturm

Corporate Health, Safety,
Environment & Quality

Evolving HSEQ at KAEFER

KAEFER es­tab­lished its Cor­por­ate HSEQ de­part­ment in 2011 and set up a global ex­pert group: our HSEQ ex­cel­lence net­work. Soon there­after, the first world­wide Health & Safety cam­paign was launched, fol­lowed by our Qual­ity PACT.

Vari­ous fur­ther cam­paigns and pro­grammes were im­ple­men­ted throughout the com­pany, such as the KAEFER HSE in­cid­ent man­age­ment app, which was launched in 2015. In 2016, we star­ted with KAEFER safety cul­ture train­ing around the world and in­cluded men­tal health man­age­ment into our ap­proach in 2018.

Today, more than ever, it is es­sen­tial to con­stantly take ac­tion to im­prove our health, safety, en­vir­on­ment and qual­ity. This means that every­one in our com­pany plays a part in mak­ing HSEQ an at­ti­tude and something we can pas­sion­ately get be­hind – from the top down and the bot­tom up. Our ap­proach and the ac­com­pa­ny­ing ini­ti­at­ives and pro­grammes have a sus­tain­able im­pact, which is also re­flec­ted in a con­tinu­ously im­prov­ing safety re­cord.

Development of LTIF and TRCF at KAEFER since 2011
Health and Safety Development

HSEQ Cul­ture at KAEFER

Over the last dec­ade, we have evolved sub­stan­tially at KAEFER. Pro­mot­ing an in­clus­ive safety cul­ture at all our loc­a­tions around the world has con­trib­uted greatly to our vis­ion of achiev­ing zero work-re­lated in­jur­ies. Fur­ther­more, safety cul­ture pro­grammes have been suc­cess­ively de­veloped and rolled out throughout the com­pany by train-the-trainer pro­grammes. Our team lead­ers are provided with the ne­ces­sary tools to get the right mes­sage across and en­gage their teams. Con­stantly re­view­ing how we are do­ing and learn­ing from our ini­ti­at­ives and cam­paigns has led to a no­tice­able cul­tural change – from rais­ing aware­ness and en­gage­ment to the act­ive par­ti­cip­a­tion of all em­ploy­ees.

Vari­ous fur­ther cam­paigns and pro­grammes were im­ple­men­ted throughout the com­pany, such as the KAEFER HSE in­cid­ent man­age­ment app, which was launched in 2015. In 2016, we star­ted with KAEFER safety cul­ture train­ing around the world and in­cluded men­tal health man­age­ment into our ap­proach in 2018.

Today, more than ever, it is es­sen­tial to con­stantly take ac­tion to im­prove our health, safety, en­vir­on­ment and qual­ity. This means that every­one in our com­pany plays a part in mak­ing HSEQ an at­ti­tude and something we can pas­sion­ately get be­hind – from the top down and the bot­tom up. Our ap­proach and the ac­com­pa­ny­ing ini­ti­at­ives and pro­grammes have a sus­tain­able im­pact, which is also re­flec­ted in a con­tinu­ously im­prov­ing safety re­cord.

Development cultural maturity
Development cultural maturity

In 2022, we re­fined our ap­proach fur­ther and ex­ten­ded our HSEQ cul­tural pro­grammes. This in­cludes HSEQ prin­ciples as well for our line man­age­ment and their teams. The new ap­proach also meas­ures our cul­tural ma­tur­ity and re­in­forces the idea of shar­ing best prac­tice within the group. This en­sures that val­ues are pro­moted and the right at­ti­tude is fostered, mak­ing HSEQ a core part of our DNA.

„HSEQ Principles, KAEFER Line Management, We take action 4 our HSEQ. That means, we as KAEFER line managers positively influence and further develop the right attitude within the team. We therefore apply the following principles: 1. We lead by example and do what we say. 2. We show visible leadership on site and engage openly with our team. 3. We set aside time for our team and show that we care. 4. We recognise and encourage the right behaviour every day. 5. We learn and promote good ideas from our workforce. 6. We promote diversity and inclusion in the team. 7.We treat everyone respectfully. 8. We strive for continuous improvement.
HSEQ Principles, KAEFER Team, We take action 4 our HSEQ, That means, we as KAEFER team members look out for one another and organise our work effectively. We therefore apply the following principles: 1. We assess the risk and plan the work prior to starting. 2. We check prior to start if others are affected by our activities. 3. We stop unsafe work and positively intervene. 4. We always follow set requirements and challenge incorrect behaviours. 5. We use the correct equipment and PPE for all tasks. 6. We suggest solutions when reporting issues and hazards. 7. We actively participate in HSEQ campaigns. 8. We speak up.”
HSEQ Poster for Line Management and the KAEFER Team

ProtAct – Enabling everyone at KAEFER to take action for our HSEQ

ProtAct home screen
ProtAct home screen

At KAEFER we say “sharing is caring”. If you see an unsafe condition or risk of any kind, we want our people to report it, raise awareness and take action to address it, so the issue can be resolved.

Since the beginning of 2024, all HSEQ events – such as injuries, environmental/quality incidents, near misses and observations are reported and managed in Sphera, our new HSEQ incident management tool. Linked to this tool, we offer our first report mobile application ProtAct. It is the front-end to the event reporting, which any KAEFER employee or contractor can use directly to report an event. ProtAct can be accessed via a QR code or a direct link. Reporting can be done anonymously and in any KAEFER language, in text or speech-to-text. The report is automatically translated into English as well, and further translations are automatically available for users who need them. This will help us to further reduce any kind of language barriers amongst our international teams and we can act as ONE KAEFER.

Once the details of the event have been entered into the system, the relevant KAEFER guiding principles, consequences, potential risks, actions, and investigations are managed by the responsible KAEFER employee. Actions can be assigned and followed up in the system. The collected data will help us to further analyze trends, not only regarding injuries, but also near-misses and observations. With our new HSEQ incident management tool, we will increase people and line management involvement, since we are able to further extend our set of leading indicators based on a globally harmonized reporting of the entire incident pyramid.

At KAEFER we have always looked out for each other, but now there is a simple and efficient way to emphasize this and proactively support and further strengthen our safety culture.

HSEQ Ex­cel­lence Net­work

We have a strong in­ter­na­tional HSEQ Ex­cel­lence Net­work that forms the back­bone of our ap­proach to be­come a learn­ing or­gan­isa­tion – based on best prac­tice es­tab­lished in the HSEQ work­ing streams. This is act­ively sup­por­ted by Cor­por­ate HSEQ and in­volves the fa­cil­it­a­tion of ini­ti­at­ives, net­work­ing with­ing the group and gain­ing new know­ledge and in­sight to en­sure that we con­tinu­ously im­prove all areas of HSEQ.

Our local ex­perts identify and share best prac­tice and are em­powered to fur­ther de­velop HSEQ in their own busi­ness units based on the unique chal­lenges, en­vir­on­ment and pri­or­it­ies in­her­ent in every mar­ket. This al­lows our HSEQ Ex­cel­lence Net­work to con­tinu­ously set and main­tain the highest stand­ards.

„The graphic illustrates that the KAEFER HSEQ Excellence Network is the backbone of the HSEQ work streams working together with the corporate HSEQ.“
HSEQ Excellence Network

Stand­ards & Cer­ti­fic­ates

In ad­di­tion to com­pli­ance with legal re­quire­ments, we have stead­ily in­creased the num­ber of ex­tern­ally cer­ti­fied com­pany units (DIN EN ISO 9001 / 14001 / 45001) to en­sure sys­tem­atic, in­teg­rated HSEQ man­age­ment.

KAEFER is cer­ti­fied by global and re­gional HSEQ man­age­ment sys­tem stand­ards. These are ac­know­ledged and ac­cred­ited by im­port­ant in­ter­na­tional cer­ti­fy­ing bod­ies such as DNV, TUV Nord CERT or Lloyd´s Re­gister, to name just a few.

KAEFER and its in­teg­rated sub­si­di­ar­ies also have cer­ti­fic­ates in the fields of weld­ing, fire pro­tec­tion and nuc­lear in­su­la­tion tech­no­logy, amongst oth­ers.

Certificate         Details                                                              Validity             
ISO 9001 Quality management system 31/05/2026
ISO 45001 Health and safety management system 31/05/2026
SCC Safety Certificate Contractors 31/05/2026
ISO 14001 Environmental management system 31/05/2026

This is how we take ac­tion

Health
Safety
Environment
Quality