The 2018/2019 apprentice competition is geared towards the young employees of the member companies of the Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry (BG RCI), Heidelberg/Germany. In an individual challenge and a team challenge, participants demonstrated their knowledge and ability in occupational health and safety. The top participants competed in the national final from 26th to 28th June 2019. The BG RCI 2018/2019 apprentice competition is part of BG RCI’s VISION ZERO prevention strategy.
Fig. 1. The final of the BG RCI safety competition took place on 26th and 27th June 2019 in Willingen. Source: BG RCI
Apprentices from Yncoris GmbH & Co. KG won the team challenge at the final of the BG RCI 2018/19 apprentice competition (Figure 1) in Willingen/Germany on 26th and 27th June 2019. “Team Green” took first place in the individual challenge.
Apprentices from Yncoris GmbH & Co. KG – formerly InfraServ Knapsack – came out on top amongst the six best teams from across Germany (Figure 2). The grand finale in Willingen in the Sauerland region was the climax of a nine-month safety marathon. The team competition covered practically all aspects of health and safety in the workplace. The 80 apprentices competing in the team challenge, whittled down from an original 2,000, faced challenges ranging from fall hazards to healthy eating to fire and explosion protection.
Fig. 2. Triumphant with their extensive knowledge of occupational health and safety: The team from Yncoris GmbH & Co. KG won the day with 167 points. Photo: BG RCI Volker Wiciok
Trophies for the best-placed teams, and safety prizes in the form of gift vouchers of varying amounts for everybody who took part, awaited the finalists.
The teams of up to 15 participants each ranked as follows:
1st place: Yncoris GmbH & Co. KG, Knapsack, 167 points
2nd place: Dyckerhoff GmbH, Deuna plant, 150 points
3rd place: Nordzucker AG, Uelzen, 138 points
4th place: Wintershall DEA GmbH, Barnstorf, 137 points
5th place: Mondi Innocoat GmbH, Raubling, 135 points
6th place: Renolit SE, Worms, 127 points
Some 70 member companies of the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry (BG RCI), Heidelberg/Germany, signed up a total of more than 2,500 apprentices to take part in the 2018/19 safety competition. The companies could choose between two types of competition. For those who were able to enter large groups of up to 15 apprentices in the tournament, there was the team challenge. For companies with fewer apprentices, a one-month internet competition organised as a solo challenge started in March.
In Willingen, in the Sauerland region, the 30 most successful participants of the solo challenge battled it out in an individual safety marathon on the first day of the final of the BG RCI 2018/19 apprentice competition. They had already beaten more than 500 apprentices in the internet version of the competition in March, scoring the best results in a total of more than 17,000 rounds to win their ticket to Willingen. There they found themselves grouped into three teams and competed against one another in a spectacular final round of questions and buzzer games on the topic of occupational health and safety. After a neck-and-neck race, “Team Green” ultimately won the day.
All the internet finalists could enjoy generous safety prizes. With their outstanding knowledge of health and safety, they demonstrated their companies’ commitment to occupational health and safety. The finalists represented the following companies:
- BAYERNOIL Raffineriegesellschaft mbh;
- BGE Schachtanlage Konrad;
- Deutsche Gasrußwerke GmbH & Co. KG;
- DSM Nutritional Products GmbH;
- GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear Service mbH;
- Huhtamaki Foodservice Germany Sales GmbH & Co. KG;
- Nordzucker AG; and
- Synthomer Deutschland GmbH.
Following the team challenge on the second day of the final, medals and trophies were awarded to the winners of both competition categories at a prize-giving ceremony.
In the team challenge, 80 apprentices from six companies ultimately won a place in the large, nationwide competition final. In two previous stages of the competition, they had achieved outstanding results in a safety test, an apprentice safety quiz and a comprehensive presentation of their workplaces. On day two of the final, the teams went up against one another to see who came out on top. They faced a comprehensive safety package, consisting of practical first-aid and fire-safety exercises and a safety course on the driving simulator. With the magic wall of questions and the buzzer game that followed, the participants confronted almost all the key occupational safety issues. “It’s tougher than Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” groaned some.
While the two top teams held their positions right from the start of the final, there was fierce competition for the other rankings, with the middle of the board ending very tightly.
“With the competition for young employees, we want to prevent future accidents today,” stated BG RCI competition coordinator Gerold Soestmeyer in his initial summary of the freshly concluded safety tournament. BG RCI has already reached hundreds of companies and several thousand apprentices with competitions like this one. Soestmeyer: “Right at the start of their careers, the young employees are learning about the importance of safety in the workplace. That is also a huge win for the companies. Once again they have urged us to carry on what we’re doing.”