A “Safety Week” was also held at Messer’s international locations in 2023. Under the guiding theme “From Safety-I to Safety-II” it was emphasized that the previous focus on negative, undesirable events (Safety-I) should be expanded to include the consideration and use of events that are positive and desirable (Safety-II). The combination of both perspectives and the corresponding conclusions can make a decisive contribution to further improving occupational safety.

A so-called quick win on the way to a safety culture at Messer is the “safety moment”. At the beginning of meetings, training sessions or workshops, it invites people to share a safety experience with the group. This could be a personally experienced event - both negative (e.g., accident, near-accident) and positive (exemplary, safe behavior). Reports from the media can also serve as examples. The purpose is to present a safety-relevant event, talk about it together and, if necessary, rethink or adapt your own behavior. 

Handling gas cylinders is one of the most frequent causes of accidents in filling plants. Especially when the operating personnel has to overcome different height differences when removing or placing cylinders on pallets. At Messer’s filling plant in Čáslav, Czech Republic, a special movable platform has therefore been installed that allows cylinders to be handled at the same level. This also reduces physical exertion, which additionally promotes occupational safety. 

Messer Benelux initiated a safety campaign in Belgium to emphasize the importance of the safe handling and transport of gas cylinders. It also emphasized the importance of reporting incidents or unsafe situations. The employees who take care of the associated work, who handle gas cylinders on a daily basis and who are in direct contact with our customers, were able to provide important feedback and suggestions.

In 2023 Messer France introduced or extended various initiatives as part of its safety management program: the “Back to Basics” campaign focused on a different basic safety topic each month, such as fire extinguishers, the “three-point rule”, eyewash or order in the work area. Specific tasks were delegated to site management and employees in order to put theory into practice. Informal discussions on a specific safety topic allowed teams to openly share ideas, identify areas for improvement and remind each other that safety requires a dynamic approach. “Safety Walks” aimed to strengthen the safety culture and train the right responses. During the safety walk, a trained team examined safety-related points using a checklist so that appropriate measures could be initiated if necessary. 

“Safer Together” is a Messer Americas initiative that combines leadership training, engagement and teamwork to create an environment of trust, empathy and problem solving. By working together and taking personal responsibility for safety, all employees feel empowered to stop work to discuss risks and hazards and solve problems before incidents and injuries can occur. In 2023 all employees signed a declaration of commitment, which was posted in the offices and other work areas.

Messer assumed operation of the Amarillo Crude Helium Extraction Unit (CHEU) in April 2022. Before Messer intervened the CHEU was cited for 21 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations. As a result of the citations, the plant was shut down. Several violations had to be abated prior to starting the plant. There were several safety systems that were either not working or were bypassed. Approximately 22 employees from across Messer USA, from various disciplines, assisted with correcting the violations, preparing the plant for startup, and operating the plant. This was accomplished without incident or any injuries. Messer personnel trained 12 new hires within 90 days while operating the facility. Helium was back in production within four weeks of Messer assuming control of the operations. All citations were closed to the satisfaction of the OSHA in March 2023.

The issuance of permits for hazardous work primarily relates to hazard identification and mitigation through planning and intensive communication processes. In 2023 Messer introduced a digital system for hazardous work permits (HWP) in the USA. It is used by all primary production areas and currently contains more than 1,000 permits - and the trend is rising. The digital work permit makes the documentation of these important steps easier and more streamlined. The digital format also ensures that communication is clear and handwritten entries no longer need to be interpreted. The system provides the ability to view permits that are at various stages of completion, from the draft to the final. In addition, permits that have already been issued can be easily copied, making the creation of repeat permits less time-consuming. The time saved can instead be used to assess hazards and communicate with the team carrying out the work. In addition, the digital platform provides an easy way to monitor hazardous work that takes place in the facilities on a daily basis. A training campaign was launched to introduce the system, focusing on key elements in the authorization of hazardous work. This ensured that people who issue permits are aware of the responsibility they bear when issuing permits.

On April 28, 2023, Messer Americas actively participated in the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. 
Across the Americas teams watched the Messer produced video titled “A Day in the Life” and managers led discussions on how teams can work even more safely by knowing and understanding the dangers at work. This includes doing risk assessments, using existing tools and understanding how to pause when something seems unsafe. The culminating activity was when teams gathered together to “take the pledge” and commit to working “Safer Together” by:

• Continuously improving our safety culture 
• Identifying and reporting hazards and unsafe conditions 
• Understanding and eliminating at-risk behaviors
• Working towards achieving zero incidents and injuries in the workplace 
• Promoting active caring for the safety, health, and well-being of our colleagues

Employees then signed posters with the pledge, which were then hung up in a visible location at their site or office. The posters are a daily reminder of the pledge employees took to be “Safer Together” every day. 

Messer Croatia Plin (Croatia) received the “Gold Three Star Safety Award” for 30 consecutive years without an accident at the Kutina plant.

Messer Hungarogáz (Hungary) received a “Gold Two Star Safety Award” for 25 years of accident-free work at its Ölbő site.

Messer Tehnogas (Serbia) was honored with a “Gold Star Safety Award” for 20 consecutive years of accident-free work at its Niš site. Messer Tehnogas also received a Silver Safety Award for ten consecutive years of accident-free work at the Smederevo production site. 

Messer’s Vratimov site in the Czech Republic was honored with the “Bronze Safety Award” for five consecutive years with zero accidents.

In May 2023 Xu Bo Xu, who is responsible for production operations and company safety at Sichuan Meifeng, Messer Gas Products Co., Ltd., received the internal “Best Craftsman” award. Bo Xu maintained safe production operations for many years and carried out his work without errors or accidents. During his time as a production manager, he trained many new employees for the company. He actively participates in the technical optimization of product quality and energy efficiency of the company. In recent years he has been actively involved in the company’s new technologies to save energy and reduce consumption.

To make the handling of our products even safer Messer produced two new “Pocket Guides Safety” and corresponding videos in 2023. The topics were “Storage of gas cylinders” and “Handling cryogenic transport containers (dewars)”. Pocket guides and videos are aimed at external target groups to provide basic information on handling our gases and raise awareness of potential hazards.

“Safety 360” was launched in 2022 to determine the risk level of our products and equipment used at our customers’ sites. In 2023 Messer was able to implement a robust, user-friendly assessment app that allows employees in the US bulk business to assess and document what could go wrong at a customer facility. “Safety 360” allows Messer to track equipment and assign actions as needed to customer-facing sales staff working at customer locations. The tool is considered exceptional because it is one way Messer is working with customers to keep their workforce safe while using Messer products.

To improve safety conditions during customer deliveries that benefit both Messer’s drivers and the customers they supply, the team at Messer Canada launched a program in 2023 to notify and assess the safety of customer sites. Deliveries must be stopped or delayed if a customer-owned site is classified as “unsafe.” When this happens, the program communicates clear criteria for the customer, corresponding notification procedures and ways to partner with Messer on safety programs.

Slovakian driver Dezider Laky, who has been driving for Slovakian Messer Tatragas for seven years, was presented with the “Messer Driver Award” in 2023. This made him the safest of a total of 650 drivers who drive for Messer in 11 European countries. The evaluation was based on the “ECO Scorecard Report”. Its data, which includes all incidents during the journey, kilometers driven and the driver’s driving style, is automatically determined by an on-board system. 

Messer Tehnogas was awarded the internal logistics prize “Best Performer” in 2023. The Serbian logistics team, led by Dejan Markovic, achieved the best logistics KPIs in 2022. The award was presented by COO Virginia Esly and SVP Logistics, Sourcing & Filling Plants, Christoph Launer. The Messer Logistics Awards recognize the best logistics teams of the subsidiaries for their improvements and achievements.

In 2023 drivers in Canada participated in a program that tracked performance in categories including safe and efficient driving, respect for the environment, and commitment to safety and productivity. In each region drivers with the best points-based performance were named regional champions. 
These drivers were invited to participate in a final “Roadeo” event where they participated in driving as well as a pre-trip inspection test to earn the Gold Cup and the honor of being titled Driver of the Year. The program proved to be a promising approach, both to improve safety and to increase productivity, further reduce Messer Canada’s environmental footprint and drive a positive safety culture.

In 2022 Messer relaunched the “Roadeo” events in the USA when the company hosted regional Safety Roadeo Showdowns. All the regions that hosted these events gathered in Springville, Illinois for the 2023 national Safety Roadeo Showdown. The ten best drivers from the regions took part. They had to face ten challenging situations that typically occurred in the course of their day-to-day work. These included a maneuvering course, a safety quiz, a manual handling, emergency response and individual understanding of policies and procedures. The event also featured a safety demonstration in the form of a “magic” show that clearly illustrated the effects of liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen. All participants, as well as those involved in the organization of the 2023 National Safety Roadeo Showdown, were enthusiastic about the nature and benefits of the event.

Together with Medclair, a Swedish research and development company with expertise in nitrous oxide, Messer aims to reduce the environmental impact of medical gases while improving occupational safety for medical staff. Medclair has developed two systems for this purpose: one for parallel treatments in several rooms and one for occasional treatments in different rooms. Both systems capture the medical gas emitted during patient treatment, break it down into its components, for example nitrogen and oxygen, and return these basic components of the atmosphere to the ambient air. The described decomposition of gases and gas mixtures not only prevents the release of pollutants into the environment - it also increases safety for medical staff: the concentration of gases in the air is already significantly reduced simply by using one of Medclair’s systems. 

In 2023 Messer presented itself at five different medical congresses. In Krakow, Prague, Belgrade, Geneva and Athens, the focus was on the gas mixture Serynox^®/Placynox^®, which is used for sedation and analgesia. The climate-friendly administration of nitrous oxide through collection and decomposition was particularly emphasized. 
At neonatal and adult medical conferences in Warsaw, Brussels and Geneva, Messer’s role as a solution provider in medical nitric oxide therapy was highlighted. In addition to supplying gases, Messer also provides the hardware, organizes service and maintenance and, if required, trains hospital staff in the use of the devices. 

Doctors and hospital staff must attend training courses at regular intervals in order to keep up with technological progress. To this end, they can either attend classroom training or e-learning courses and collect a certain number of necessary points over the course of a year. In order to train the widest possible audience in the safe handling of gases and a specific therapy, an audited e-learning course has been developed. This allows medical professionals to be trained on our applications, be made aware of new developments and collect points at the same time.

In the context of increasing environmental pollution, the number of people with mild to severe lung diseases is also rising steadily. In order to detect this at an early stage and treat it, if necessary, lung function tests are carried out in specialized centers. This involves the use of lung function gases, for which Messer received approval as a medicinal product in 2023. They help to predict diseases reliably and accurately. It was also decided to approve further gases in this area, as there is a need and demand for different applications.

In 2023 the first Medical Sales Meeting was held in Germany, at which sales employees from all European national companies were trained on medical gases. The aim was to gain more confidence in dealing with doctors on medical topics. The newly acquired knowledge could be tested on medical devices on site. The best practice examples presented by the sales department were particularly impressive.

In 2023 the Food Safety Officers from the European Messer companies met in Bad Soden, Germany, to deepen their knowledge and share best practice examples for the production of food gases. Meetings of this kind help to ensure the safety of our food gases and, as a result, the health of consumers. 

In 2023 the Serynox^®/Placynox^® workshop was held in Lyon, France. All national companies with a “Marketing Authorization” for the above-mentioned gases were invited to visit the production site in Saint-Georges, receive training on the safe use of the gas and learn marketing strategies for marketing the gases. 

Argon 300 bar plays an indispensable role in the field of cryoablation in the treatment of cancer. Tumors that are difficult to access are localized and destroyed using a special therapy applied by a Messer key customer. Messer has obtained certification for this gas in Slovakia, which can be used to treat patients throughout Europe.