SICK insight: What are the tasks of the BGFE?
Dr. Jansen: The Trade Associations have been around since 1885, when Bismarck’s social legislation was introduced. Trade Associations have been part of the social network since then, though with some special aspects that still apply today. Thus companies that are considered to be in the precision mechanics and electronics sectors automatically become members of the BGFE when they are founded. And they pay 100% of the contribution, not 50% as is the case for national pension or unemployment insurance, for example. The BGFE uses this money to carry out its tasks: compensation payments in cases of industrial illnesses and accidents at work; medical, professional and social rehabilitation; accident prevention in companies in the form of inspections by technical supervisory staff; providing safety advice on plants in operation and new product developments; as well as the implementation of comprehensive preventive measures. The BGFE is now responsible for almost 100,000 member firms with about 2.2 million insured personnel.

SICK insight: Training is a fundamental part of your preventative work. Who are your courses intended for?
Dr. Jansen: A short historical excursion would help answer this question. People were already thinking about prevention in the 20s. But they were given a decisive boost in the late 50s and early 60s when strong economic growth unfortunately led to a sharp increase in accidents at work. And the safety at work legislation introduced in 1974 created an enormous need for training. The BGFE soon recognised that safety was more than just technology. Sensors and barriers alone do not make machines safe – what’s needed is a lively belief in safety in the form of attitude, behaviour, organisation and leadership. This is why the Safety at Work Centre here at the “Berghof” in Bad Münstereifel, which was opened in 1962, was deliberately set up as a training centre – at that time the first of its type in Germany. The express aim of this organisation was not merely to pass on technical knowledge, but to highlight and propagate safety-oriented behaviour and safer organisation. These ideas are best put over in the factories, by training multipliers throughout the hierarchy to create safety specialists who are also prepared to make use of this material and take responsibility. And it is precisely these people for whom the courses are intended: persons on a variety of levels with a range of different functions who are capable of raising safety levels in the factory.

SICK insight: With about 100,000 member firms you must have quite a lot to do…
Dr. Jansen: Without doubt. BGFE training centres – in other words, the Berghof and the other meeting places and academies in Linowsee, Dresden and Oberaichen near Stuttgart – organise about 1,000 seminars, workshops and such like every year, attended by approximately 16,000 participants. Last year we welcomed our 250,000th participant to the Berghof. Though it must be noted that it is mainly the larger companies that send employees to the BGFE, while participants from the 85,000 small and mediumsized companies are clearly underrepresented. This may have something to do with the amount of work that potential participants face, though it is certainly not because of the costs involved: the seminars are free-of-charge and include board and lodging, i.e. the costs are covered by the membership fees. And the BGFE also pays for the travelling costs.

SICK insight: 1,000 seminars, more than 16,000 participants – this all requires a lot of organisation. But how do you “organise” the trainers and specialists necessary for the wide range of topics studied – they don’t grow on the trees in front of the Berghof, do they?
Dr. Jansen: You’re right there – even with a lot of shaking we’ve never harvested any. To be serious – our pool of about 350 trainers comes from many sources. First of all, the BGFE has a total of 20 fulltime teachers distributed among the various training sites. Then there are also about 80 technical supervisory staff who make regular visits to the works and are very well aware of the real situation in practice. Lawyers from the main administration in Cologne and some of the BGFE’s local administrations explain topics that involve the legal situation and the consequences of safety at work regulations. But most of our work is achieved with external experts from other Trade Associations, from universities, from official factory inspection authorities and particularly from companies. SICK also offers a seminar that has been successfully run by your Mr. Görnemann for many years now.

SICK insight: How significant for the BGFE is co-operation with the industry?
Dr. Jansen: Co-operation with the industry not only ensures that our teaching content is heavily practice-related, but is also important for the BGFE because our specialists are kept up-to-date in technological terms by the early consideration of new product developments. This is particularly important because safety technology is increasingly becoming more software-oriented. Electronics is increasingly taking over safety functions whose examination and assessment requires corresponding specialist knowledge. One can see at a glance whether a protective door is open or not – but whether a particular software activates measure X in case Y requires a more intensive inspection. Only well-founded specialist knowledge is of any assistance when there are also safety-relevant, complex communication structures in machines and plants.

SICK insight: What status do the new media have for the BGFE’s work?
Dr. Jansen: When I look back over my more than twenty years with the BGFE I can see that we have developed from a regulatory body to a modern service-provider – not least as a result of the new media which we actively exploit. This starts with the intensive use of our Seminar Database on the Internet. Well over half our participants register for courses online. Information of almost any type can be downloaded at the click of a mouse. A newsletter for subscribers is in development and will hopefully be available soon. Twelve times a year we offer the “Topic of the month” on our home page and thus achieve greater topicality. And, of course, new media have created advances in the seminars themselves. The latest computer and presentation technologies ensure that our trainers really do get their knowledge across.

SICK insight: One last question: Is the cooperative approach of the BGFE still in keeping with the times and fit for the future?
Dr. Jansen: One only has to look around at the economic landscape to see that not every change is beneficial. In my opinion, this would also be the case if, as is often brought up in conversation, the Trade Associations were privatised. The solidarity principle would be replaced by a kind of efficiency principle. I don’t have anything at all against efficiency, quite the opposite in fact. But safety cannot be reduced to a money matter, i.e. seminars must still be offered even if they do not seem to add up commercially at first glance. Or what would happen to the small Trade Associations or those that are in financial difficulties as a result of the economic situation in their sector, e.g. in building or mining? How would the solidarity adjustment currently in use be handled then? I think that the considerations that have so far taken place are half-baked because ultimately they fail to ensure the safety of those we insure at the workplace – precisely because safe machines cannot be chieved with technology alone, and the passing on of safety competence in a variety of forms is still vital.

SICK insight: At least one thing is certain, Dr. Jansen: the idyllic location of your “Berghof” training centre. Thank you very much for this conversation.