Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, has introduced crucial cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator training to employees at eight of its Industrial & Energy Technology (IET) sites in Italy and the U.K. Thus far, more than 450 employees have undergone this training to enhance the chances of survival during cardiac arrest incidents in both countries.
 
In Italy, Baker Hughes initiated the training program in August 2023 across seven sites, including its primary facility in Florence. The program was executed by the company's Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) team in IET, supported by EMD112, an organization specializing in life-saving products and training. Over 320 colleagues have received comprehensive training, and 63 new defibrillators have been deployed across the seven sites. Notably, the number of defibrillators in Florence has surged from four to 35, surpassing local regulatory requirements.
 
In Europe, approximately 300,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually, with less than one in 10 individuals surviving. To help combat this issue, Baker Hughes' Leicester facility in the U.K. partnered with Heartwize, a local charity specializing in heart resuscitation training. Together, they have provided CPR and defibrillator training to 600 colleagues based in Leicester. To date, 145 employees have completed the training, including 24 Baker Hughes volunteers who will impart resuscitation skills training to a local college.
 
“Equipping our employees with the skills required to perform CPR and use a defibrillator not only reduces the risk of fatalities through a cardiac arrest at our sites, but it means colleagues can apply lifesaving skills to their loved ones and across their local communities,” said Saverio Gradassi, global HSE and sustainability director, Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes. “As eliminating fatalities and permanent impairments is imperative for Baker Hughes, we are currently reviewing plans to extend our programs to other sites.”

Equipping staff with life-saving abilities and prioritizing safety and health investments play vital roles in fostering resilient and socially responsible communities. This fosters a culture where individuals take responsibility for well-being and are adept at responding effectively to emergencies across diverse environments.

Amy Harrell is dedicated to ensuring the safety of over a thousand individuals at the Naheola mill in Pennington, Alabama. Her foremost concern is ensuring that everyone returns home in the same condition they arrived for work.
 
See Her: Amy Harrell - transcript
“Thank you for working safe," said Amy Harrell. “I love working with people I like, keeping people safe. I like making sure they go home the way that they came to work. My name is Amy Harrell. I'm the safety leader at the Georgia Pacific Mill in Pennington, Alabama. I grew up here. The paper mill is a key part of the community. They are very proud of the product we put out. I'm responsible for the safety of all 975 employees, and around 400 to 450 contractors.”
 
“Every day I manage the safety processes. I work daily with my safety team - also the chemical process safety team. I assist with incident investigations, risk assessments. I started in the safety department and then I was on D-shift. I learned so much about how things actually run in a paper bill.
 
“Then, the opportunity presented itself for me to come back to the safety department. When I left, I told the mill guys that you know they would always be special to me. As a safety leader you do have to have a thick skin and you do have to have those tough conversations because your ultimate goal at the end of the day is that everybody goes home the way they came in. I wouldn't be where I am without my team. Without them and without us all having the same goal, I wouldn't be able to be the effective leader that I am. The advice that I would give to any young woman starting out is just be yourself and if you have a dream or a goal it may take you a while to get there but just never give up. I know my dad was very proud of this mill and he was very proud of the work he put in here. So I think he would be very proud that I'm the safety leader.”

Dailycsr.com – 14 January 2019 – The “International Labour Organization” reported that over three hundred forty million “occupational accidents” are recorded annually on a global scale. However, in comparison to the “other industries”, the construction sector’s statistic figures seem to show a “disproportionately high rate” of such accidents.
 
There is an industry wide effort in the “engineering, procurement, and construction” sectors, wherein Bechtel also plays an active part, to seek new ways of overcoming these onsite “health and safety challenges”. Similarly, in the attempt of educating the construction workers and making them situational aware, more and more businesses are investing in the technology of extended reality.
 
Explaining the concept of extended reality, Marvin Johnson wrote:
“Extended Reality (XR) is the industry catch-all technical term referring to all superimposed real-world and immersive virtual environments”.
He also added the term included the realm of Virtual Reality, in short VR, Assisted Reality, in short AR, and Mixed Reality, in short MR.
 
At Bechtel, the improvement of workers’ safety conditions which adds up to reduce the “overall rate of work-related accidents” take a front seat of priorities. With the help of XR technologies, the company is able to address these challenges besides “significantly improving project efficiency and exploring new ways to design and build structures”.
 
Giving some example, Bechtel talked about its “VR Training for Crane Operators” initiative, whereby adding:
“Bechtel is collaborating with Industrial Training International to increase quality and reduce the cost of craft training through immersive virtual experiences and the use of videogame-like controls. Combining VR and input from industry experts, the training module provides in-depth real-life scenarios. The new system is expected to improve the screening and selection process for crane operators, supporting our zero accidents philosophy while simultaneously protecting equipment and saving money”.
 
Among other such initiatives, there are “AR-Assisted Lockout Tagout Procedure”, and “Immersive Jobsite Walkthrough Experience”, as mentioned by Bechtel.
 
However, adopting to these technologies present some practical hurdles, as they depend on “wearables, like glasses or gloves, or mobile devices to deliver information to the user”, while the construction sites come with “noise pollution, extreme temperatures, humidity, dust, and other environmental concerns” which do not create viable environment for these technology driven solutions.
 
Besides environmental issues, incorporating these technologies into the existing form create practical complexities, while Johnson cautions:
“situational awareness is critical in a busy construction site. If XR systems distract users from what is occurring in their surroundings, the technology solution could pose more risk than the problem it’s attempting to address”.
 
Therefore Bechtel is heavily relying on learning from every pilot projects with the objective of learning and sharing the knowledge with “technology providers” so as to “drive the industry forward in adoption and shape the hardware requirements to realize the jobsite of the future”.
 
 
References:
3blmedia.com