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#HeraeusPeople Story

Can safety be fun?

Dr. Anja Teske, Head of EHS Governance and Performance, HBS Corporate EHS

"Safety is a value, not a priority” - safety is not a set of rules. Safety is an attitude. And sometimes you even have to tell stories or play a little to really reach people.

Imrpovisation meets real life

My EHS career is peppered with milestones: from standing ovations during audits to being named “Rock Solid” in a global EHS role. But my greatest success at Heraeus? A training concept that made safety an interactive experience. The challenge was clear: reduce the number of accidents. How did we get there? Anything but ordinary. Together with my colleague, I developed an “Incident Management and Investigation Training” - ten modules that were rolled out globally to deal with incidents and accidents. Over a period of months at various training times. A series peppered with a good narrative and gamification. Imagine this: I present an accident, put on different hats and slip into different roles. The participants choose their interview partners, ask questions, uncover the truth layer by layer: “What happened?” - “Why don't you ask the lab technician?"

Why EHS training as an interactive experience? Because I know: People listen. People watch. But only when they participate does the knowledge really sink in. I didn't want a bored audience - I wanted to shape safety expertise. This conviction also stems from my life outside the lab: for years I organized games meetings in Kassel and found balance in the Chinese martial art of Wing Tsun. This is discipline and creativity in perfect harmony.

No Crash Is the Loudest Applause

The results of my training concept speak for themselves: the number of accidents fell. Not just because of my training, of course, but it was an important building block. Because in the end, only one thing counts: every accident that doesn't happen is a victory."

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