According to an annual report by the Assurance Maladie in 2017, the construction and civil engineering sector recorded 90 work-related accidents per 1,000 employees, i.e. three times more than the national average for all sectors combined. And for good reason, physical effort and misuse of equipment can lead to dangerous situations. Faced with this phenomenon, the Kiloutou Group, a major player in the rental of construction and public works equipment in France, is undertaking a safety and prevention initiative to make the sector’s practices safer.
Managing through safety
With the aim of reducing accidents in the construction and civil engineering sector, Kiloutou has had a new Health and Prevention department since the summer of 2017. Responsible for developing the prevention approach throughout France, the dedicated team of 9 employees implements major training and awareness-raising projects. “Accidents are a preventable reality,” says Nils Denuelle, Health, Safety and Prevention Director.
With a cycle defined over five years, the strategy implemented is based on five axes: communication, feedback, risk analysis, managerial practices favourable to prevention and training.
Since 2017, two pilot regions (East and Rhône) have been able to test this method based on management set by the regional CODIR and coordinated by the branch managers.
In this context, three training modules were implemented for employees:
- Analysis and causes of accidents
- Daily briefing and monthly safety talks in each branch
- Specific monthly health and safety field visits
These half-day events are now compulsory for all branches in the network. Working groups and reviews of local and national actions have been set up to monitor prevention and measure the results. “Our mission is to manage through safety: we impregnate our employees on a daily basis in order to transform the culture and the work over the long term,” explains Nils Denuelle.
A cross-functional approach for partners and customers
In addition to in-house training and awareness-raising for its employees, the rental company is also extending its prevention actions to its partners and customers in a concerted and co-constructed approach. With ever-increasing customer demands, Kiloutou frequently challenges its suppliers to offer rental equipment that is compliant, safe and at the cutting edge of technical developments. As for day-to-day customer support, this includes training in the use of the machines by teammates, each with different areas of expertise. Wearing PPE or and safety precautions are levers for raising safety awareness that limit the misuse of rental equipment.
Equipment at the cutting edge of safety
Kiloutou can count on the competence and commitment of its teammates to present the equipment and its operation to its clients. Our equipment is at the cutting edge of safety and has been tested in real conditions of use by the Technical Test Centre before being put into service. All of the machines in the fleet are therefore tested for all possible uses. Only when they have been validated is the supply to the branches carried out, thus reinforcing operational rigour, a guarantee of safety and professionalism.