David Kania: Security Officer in Research & Development department

In November 2024, David Kania was appointed Safety Officer in the Research and Development (R&D) department. David has been part of the CarboTech Group since 2021. On the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Alexandra Bünck interviewed him.

Alexandra Bünck: David, could you please explain your responsibilities as Safety Officer in the Research & Development department in more detail?

David Kania: My main task is to act as an early warning system for the research and development department. I regularly visit the departments to ensure that all safety measures are being followed. It is my job to identify potential hazards at an early stage, carry out risk assessments for new processes and forward these to the relevant departments. Overall, I keep a watchful eye on the company to continuously improve safety.

Alexandra Bünck: Who do you refer to as the ‘relevant departments’ when you forward risk assessments? Who do you communicate with?

David Kania: First and foremost, it’s management, the safety officer and our occupational physician. My job is to provide information, evaluate processes and report any issues, such as repeated violations of regulations. The safety officer is responsible for providing specific advice and implementing measures, while management makes the relevant decisions.

Alexandra Bünck: How would you rate the occupational safety structure at CarboTech? Are you satisfied?

David Kania: We are continuously improving – it’s an ongoing process. Safety signs are of course displayed everywhere, and our employees are well trained in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). We also have eye wash stations in the laboratory for emergencies. It is impossible to completely eliminate all sources of danger, but by taking a systematic approach, we can significantly minimise risks and equip our employees accordingly. As regulations change and protective equipment continues to evolve, work in this area remains an ongoing challenge.

Alexandra Bünck: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge with safety signs, especially with changing pictograms, for example for different types of fire extinguishers?

David Kania: Personally, I have no difficulties with safety signs, which is certainly due to my many years of experience in the chemical industry. I trained as a chemical technician and completed numerous laboratory internships during my studies in process engineering. As a result, the pictograms have always been clear to me. It is important that the labels are easy to understand in order to avoid confusion.

Alexandra Bünck: That makes sense. So you are ideally suited to the role of safety officer at CarboTech. Can you give an example of a situation where special attention is required in terms of occupational safety?

David Kania: A typical example is activation in the laboratory fluidised bed, which takes place at high temperatures. This involves hot surfaces and materials, which requires special caution. Especially during standard tasks, there is a risk that employees will accidentally remove protective clothing, such as safety goggles. My job is to remind people in such situations to put the protective measures back in place to prevent accidents caused by hot particles or burns. Although the probability is low, operating errors can have serious consequences.

Alexandra Bünck: How do you personally deal with such situations? It is well known that monitoring others can sometimes lead to you making mistakes yourself.

David Kania: It is essential to lead by example. Especially in my role as safety officer, I always try to be attentive and careful myself in order to set a good example.

Alexandra Bünck: In addition to your role as safety officer, you are also a fire safety assistant. How can your colleagues recognise you in an emergency, as you are not personally known to everyone?

David Kania: We can be distinguished by the colour of our helmets. As fire and first aid officers and safety officers, we all wear green helmets, which makes it easy to identify us when we are on duty.

Alexandra Bünck: That’s a practical solution. Today is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Can you briefly describe the measures and the status of health promotion at CarboTech in this context?

David Kania: In addition to our first responders, we attach great importance to ergonomic workplace equipment, such as height-adjustable tables and ergonomically optimised chairs. Our first responders and fire safety officers receive regular training. We also have two automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in our company so that we can react quickly in an emergency. We do everything we can to protect the health of our employees and continuously strengthen our safety culture.
Alexandra Bünck: Those are excellent conditions. Thank you very much for talking to us!

David Kania: You’re very welcome. I am delighted to have the opportunity to share my expertise in occupational safety with your readers as part of this interview on World Day for Safety and Health at Work.