At the operational level, fatal and serious occupational accidents in trade and goods logistics occur rarely, so most companies fortunately lack concrete operational experience.
To identify hazards with a high-risk potential for fatal and serious injuries at an early stage in line with the second golden rule of Vision Zero: “Identify hazards – Control Risks”, companies and the managers responsible therefore need help and support. To provide this support, the German Statutory Accident Insurance for the Trade and Logistics Industries (Berufsgenossenschaft Handel und Warenlogistik ‒ BGHW) has carried out extensive analyses of fatal and serious accidents.
For this purpose, all fatal accidents over several years and all serious accidents over one year were determined on site at the companies by the labour inspectors. The collected data was evaluated, clustered and potential preventive measures identified. Based on this, all areas of prevention work were focused on these results. This includes, for example, targeted monitoring and the information available to labour inspectors. Furthermore, the results have been incorporated into all BGHW’s communication and qualifying channels, including completely new ways to reach different target groups. Finally, two new ISSA guidelines were developed from this.