Occupational safety at Audi improved still further
27.04.2000 – 10:30
Neckarsulm / Ingolstadt (ots)
Working at Audi has become even safer: in 1999, the number of industrial accidents at the Audi plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm dropped once again compared with the previous year: with 6.8 industrial accidents per million hours worked, Audi was able to reduce the previous year's level (1998: 8.0) by 15 percent. Audi thus outperformed the average for this area of industry, which fell to 13.3 (1998: 14.9) accidents, by almost 49 percent.
"With 6.8 accidents per million hours worked, we once again recorded the lowest figure ever in the company's history last year. We aim to sustain this success and build on it in future," remarked Jürgen Gebhardt, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Production, at today's presentation of the 1999 Audi Occupational Safety Award in Neckarsulm. Gebhardt emphasised that occupational safety represents an integral part of the company's economic success. "Safety at the workplace is one of the prerequisites for the high level of quality for which our production and products are noted," stressed Gebhardt.
The 1999 Occupational Safety Award was presented to Series Production Preparation, a department active in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Series Production Preparation, which provides a link between Vehicle Development and Series Production, prepares products and processes in order to enable economical, reliable and high-quality manufacturing under series production conditions. The department as a whole has succeeded in reducing its accident figures at both plants in the last two years by 89.6 percent to an accident frequency of 1.9. There were no accidents at all in the department last year.
The trophy for "Accident-free Work" in more than 1.6 million hours worked, which was awarded for the first time, went to the Training Department in Neckarsulm. The Plant Security Services in Ingolstadt received a large certificate for continually reducing accident frequency and accident severity in the past five years. The awards were presented by Jürgen Gebhardt, Dr. Andreas Schleef, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Human Resources, Xaver Meier, Chairman of the Audi General Works Council, and Theo Schirmer, Chairman of the Works Council at the Audi Neckarsulm plant, in the presence of undersecretary Stefan Mappus, Ministry of the Environment and Transport of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
Theo Schirmer emphasised the significance attached to occupational safety by the General Works Council: "Employees' health and safety is one of our most important tasks. Last year's outstanding result serves to confirm the excellent and close cooperation between the works council and the management." Schirmer went on to stress that the General Works Council would play its part in ensuring that high safety standards are sustained and improved still further in future.
Audi is an international developer and manufacturer of high-quality cars. The company maintains production sites in Germany, Hungary, Brazil, China and South Africa. In 1999, Audi sold around 635,000 cars and produced more than 1.2 million engines, bringing in sales revenues in excess of DM 29.6 billion. The Audi Group has around 47,000 employees.
Communication: Corporate and Finance Joachim Cordshagen, Tel: +49 841/89-36340, Fax: +49 841/89-36370 e-mail: joachim.cordshagen@audi.de Dr. Ute Röding-Lange, Tel: +49 841/89-36384, Fax: +49 841/89-36370 e-mail: ute.roeding-lange@audi.de
Original content of: Audi AG, transmitted by news aktuell