At the beginning of September, a two-day workshop was held at Pepperl+Fuchs in Mannheim for the new trainees and dual students. The focus was on the topics of sustainability, environmental protection, and occupational safety.
The workshop was organized by the two teams Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) and Sustainability. The first morning was entirely dedicated to sustainability. “Our trainees and dual students are the future of the company. As the sustainability team, we are therefore delighted to involve them in our major topic areas of environmental, social, and corporate sustainability as early as possible,” says Nadine, Sustainability Manager at Pepperl+Fuchs. “Our goal was to convey that sustainability plays a role everywhere, no matter which department people work in within the company.” After a short presentation on the general importance of sustainability and the role it plays at Pepperl+Fuchs, things quickly became interactive.
Creative with bricks
In two groups, the participants dealt with the question: “What can my contribution to sustainability at Pepperl+Fuchs be – today and in the future?” Each person was asked to develop ideas and build a model using bricks. This led to inspiring discussions and original concepts. Afterwards, all solutions were combined. The group that focused on the topic of sustainability at Pepperl+Fuchs today created a final overall structure that included car-pooling, electric vehicles, renewable energy sources, and in-house recycling facilities.
In addition to sustainability, the two topics of environmental and energy management were also covered. After various presentations by the EHS team, the participants went on a tour of the Pepperl+Fuchs site, gaining exciting behind-the-scenes insights, such as into the waste disposal area, the heating center, or the building control system. A quiz with questions like „Which waste belongs in which bin?” and “How much energy do we consume?” rounded off the day in a playful way.
The first day offered plenty of room for creativity, idea development, and teamwork. The concepts showed that creativity knows no bounds and that individual ideas can be combined well with one another.
Safety at work
The second day focused entirely on occupational safety. In addition to legal basics, the trainees and dual students received valuable information about potential hazards and personal protective equipment. These were illustrated using a virtual trainee named Simon, who is new to Pepperl+Fuchs. There was also an overview of additional topics such as first aid and fire safety. Health aspects were not neglected either. For the “desk workers”, helpful gymnastic exercises were provided.
Positive feedback
„The atmosphere was really great – everyone was motivated, open and visibly enjoyed the various tasks,” says Katharina, trainee in industrial business management with additional qualification in international business management. “The workshop showed how diverse the topics of sustainability, environment protection, and occupational safety are and how closely they are connected. During the quiz, I realized how much energy we actually consume in our daily lives. I take away from this that each of us can contribute something to sustainability, health, and safety. I also understood how important it i to be mindful even on a small scale, to save energy ourselves, and to act sustainably – whether in the office or in private life. It only works if we all pull together!”
