Schindler Vietnam: Safety a core part of company culture

Cheng Tze King, Schindler Vietnam's New Installation Business director

You have been working in the construction industry for 15 years, especially in the elevator field. What is your opinion about safety requirements in the heavy industry, particularly the elevator industry?

Heavy industry plays an important role in helping Vietnam develop in line with other regions to deepen international integration. There is a rapidly growing demand for developing residential areas, skyscrapers, and commercial centres in Vietnam, which requires the elevator industry to further improve and evolve quality and safety standards in order to meet the needs of the growing number of people using them. Currently, worldwide there are 12 million operating elevators, transporting more than one billion people every day. This is one of the safest means of transportation.

In developed markets like the US or Europe, strict safety standards are always a top priority when it comes to elevator quality. In Vietnam, like in all other markets we operate in, we always strive to implement, maintain, and build on these standards.

Could you share about the specific efforts to implement safety standards in the elevator industry in Vietnam?

All industrial manufacturing sectors carry with them potential risks that can affect people’s safety. In the elevator industry, we believe that the prevention of issues is possible if we follow safety rules and carefully manage the operating system. For example, if the elevator is regularly monitored, unexpected incidents, risks, and disruptions during operation will be minimised.

Accordingly, our research specialists have applied Internet of Things (IoT) technology combined with AI to develop our new solution for the management of elevators – “Schindler Ahead”. This comprehensive solution can analyse data and predict the risks of equipment failure before they happen. As a result, incidents can be foreseen and resolved proactively applying what is known as “preventative maintenance”. In every process, whether it is the installation or maintenance of elevators, we never make any compromises on safety for sake of speeding up progress. The "golden safety rule" is Schindler's ethos all over the world.

Schindler Ahead helps companies regularly monitor elevator health through Schindler’s global control centre

Besides prioritising customers’ interests above all, we are also committed to the safety of our employees by providing high-quality equipment, industry knowledge, and important skills. We recognise that our employees’ safety is a core part of ensuring our passengers' safety. Globally, we have more than 60,000 Schindler employees serving more than one billion people who use our elevators and escalators every day. In 2018, Schindler technicians spent an average of 9.8 days of technical and safety training, covering everything from risk assessment and control training to legal and industrial requirements. This is a 26 per cent increase in safety training time compared to 2017.

How are Schindler's global golden safety rules applied for both employees and customers in Vietnam?

Nothing is absolute, but at Schindler, we make every effort to ensure that we adhere to the strictest safety standards possible. In addition to complying with safety standards created through connecting technology and generating efficiencies for the elevator industry, we also apply the "golden safety rule" for both employees and customers.

For our employees, we always encourage them to "Do it right, for the first time" and follow fundamental safety rules, such as respect safety instructions and stop working immediately if there are any concerns; always use personal protective equipment and appropriate tools while working; isolate power sources from devices to prevent unexpected accidents; and proactively identify risks to prevent and keep workplace safe and tidy.

Schindler's goal is to increase workplace safety and reduce the number of employee incidents and injuries

For our customers who are building operators, technicians, and passengers, we ensure a seamless connection through IoEE (Internet of Elevators and Escalators) – which is the connectivity solution that enables Schindler to better monitor, analyse, and leverage data generated from its elevators and escalators.

Anyone can exchange and communicate information as well as be notified when there is an emergency or a need for maintenance or repair. On the other hand, Schindler also proactively provides fundamental knowledge for users through training workshops, as well as public campaigns to spread the message about safety when using elevators and escalators.