Occupational health and safety

The Zeppelin Group’s declared goal is to completely avoid work-related accidents and occupational illnesses (Vision Zero). The following basic principles apply, and are anchored in the Group Policy on Occupational Health and Safety:

• The Management Board and managers have the primary responsibility and act as role models for safe and healthy working at Zeppelin. They take measures to maintain and continuously improve the health and performance of all employees in the long term. For this purpose, all the necessary means and resources (time, money, materials, and training) are made available to establish the occupational health and safety organization and the resulting measures.
• All employees are obliged to conduct themselves in such a way that they help prevent accidents, illnesses and hazards at work, both for themselves and for others. In doing so, they actively and consciously help to shape their daily actions. This means that the applicable occupational health and safety regulations are observed at all times, that the prescribed personal protective equipment (PPE) is always worn and that machines, devices and work equipment are only used for their intended purposes.
• All employees are encouraged to report or remedy faults and defects and to submit identified potential for improvement for a safe and healthy workplace. The aim is to achieve a continuous improvement in working conditions and a steady reduction in work accidents and occupational illnesses.

With the help of the occupational health and safety management system in accordance with ISO 45001, Zeppelin not only manages the alignment and achievement of its targets, but also monitors and documents the progress made. The scope of the certified occupational health and safety management system in accordance with ISO 45001 includes the companies Zeppelin GmbH, Zeppelin Rental GmbH, Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH, Zeppelin Power Systems GmbH, and Zeppelin Systems GmbH and their Group companies in Germany. ISO 45001 certification is only partially available abroad. To meet Zeppelin’s high standards abroad, the internal regulations are based on the existing occupational health and safety management system. The procedures and specifications for conduct in the event of accidents at work and their notification and reporting are regulated in procedural instructions. Development is recorded and monitored at every site of the German companies with more than 20 employees in quarterly meetings of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee. This is done with the participation of safety specialists and company physicians. A risk assessment is created for each activity in order to identify hazards in advance. Furthermore, inspections are carried out in all areas in order to identify risks and initiate measures. This process is documented in a procedural instruction. Regularly trained internal auditors reduce the risk of hazards through internal audits and site inspections. Site audits and certifications are carried out by third-party service providers. Due to the specifications of the supplier Caterpillar Inc. sources of hazards are presented using the contamination control process and stored alongside relevant measures.

To ensure the necessary knowledge and skills relating to health and safety at work, all employees take part in annual instruction. Responsibility for this lies with the respective managers. Good health and safety training can help prevent workplace accidents, protect employee health and increase productivity by minimizing potential risks. For this reason, Zeppelin offers two different occupational health and safety training courses across Germany, which also take job-specific topics into account. The safety of external companies and external personnel is just as important to Zeppelin as the safety of our own employees. For this reason, they are given instruction before they start work. Due to legal requirements in Germany, it is necessary to carry out a mandatory inspection for certain workplaces and the use of certain equipment and machines. Zeppelin complies with these requirements.

In addition to this mandatory examination, Zeppelin also offers other voluntary occupational health services. These are specified individually at company level. Within Zeppelin GmbH, for example, sight tests and flu vaccinations are offered and have a high uptake among employees. Campaigns are also planned for the coming years.

Progress in occupational health and safety

It is Zeppelin’s aim to provide all employees with a safe and healthy workplace, which is why the company has set itself the goal of reducing the work-related accident rate by 10% annually by 2025. The work-related accident rate, which includes the number of work accidents per 1,000 employees at Zeppelin, describes the frequency and severity of work accidents in combination with the number of days lost due to accidents. The definition of reportable work-related accidents at Zeppelin is as follows: “A reportable work-related accident is an accident that occurs due to or as a result of a person’s activity in the workplace, while working or while traveling on business, which requires medical treatment and leads to a period of absence lasting more than three calendar days after the day of the accident. Deaths are also accounted for and reported separately.”

In the 2023 reporting year, the Group-wide work-related accident rate was reduced by 10.0% and the target was achieved. Effective measures and committed safety awareness led to an extraordinary reduction of around 25%, especially in the Construction Equipment Central Europe SBU. Unfortunately, the Rental SBU recorded an increase in the rate of work-related accidents in the area of construction site traffic safety. This trend underlines the need to increase the focus on preventive measures and training to improve the safety of employees in this area.

Furthermore, statistics show that injuries to hands, ankles and feet are the most common work-related accidents. This underlines the importance of targeted safety precautions and training to minimize this type of injury and make working conditions safe overall.

The target of a 10% annual reduction in accident-related lost time (days)⁴ was not achieved in 2023 (+5.8% compared with 2022). The number of days lost per 1,000 employees also increased compared with the previous year.

The Z FIT health initiative is an essential component of the occupational health promotion of the Zeppelin Group and all German companies. This includes various measures to safeguard and improve the health and well-being of employees, such as presentations, check-ups, workshops or active sessions. The Zeppelin Group offers its employees in the German companies additional support in balancing work and private life with the famPLUS portfolio of services in the areas of childcare, care counseling, and psychosocial counseling.

The health rate has been continuously between 95.5 and 96.5% over recent years. In order to map more realistic targets in the short term with regard to external and internal circumstances, the target for the health rate was reduced from 97 to 95%. In the reporting year, the health rate met the target of 95.8% and improved slightly compared with the previous year.

Measures in 2023

Occupational health & safety

After the successful implementation of the accident cockpit, the priority now is the precise analysis of accidents and the consistent implementation of measures to improve safety. Through a thorough analysis of the data and targeted action planning, we aim to continuously improve working conditions and minimize risks. Our priority is to ensure that the measures taken are effective and make a sustainable contribution to workplace safety. The accident cockpit will be rolled out worldwide in 2024 and 2025.

A new e-learning module on occupational health and safety was also introduced and rolled out throughout Germany in the reporting year. It is interactive and offers content tailored to office workers as well as workers in areas such as technical service, workshop, and production. The topics covered include fire safety, emergency response, safe routes to work, and first aid.

Health and safety

As part of the Z FIT health initiative, participation in a total of eleven company runs, a step challenge with over 46 million steps counted, nine guided “moving breaks” and four health days with more than 600 active participants were organized throughout Germany in 2023.

⁴ The reduction is calculated in comparison with the previous year. The performance indicators in 2021 and 2022 have changed slightly due to a changed data basis.
⁵ Target adjustment compared with previous year: Target health rate reduced from 97% to 95%