Occupational Safety, Modern and Innovative

With a Practical Lens and a Wink

Ann-Christin Vennes (Vennes Erd- u. Tiefbau Abbruch GmbH & Co. KG) and Philipp Ellsäßer (QIKY GmbH) spoke in their presentation about a topic everyone knows—yet one that is still too often ignored: occupational safety. Not dry. Not preachy. But honest, direct, and with a laugh. Because that’s exactly how something sticks. The talk was meant to wake people up—and to encourage everyone to pause for a moment and ask: are we doing occupational safety for people, or just for the binder?

They showed what occupational safety can look like today: modern, effective, easy to understand, and close to real-life conditions. And they spoke just as openly about how it is still too often handled—through paperwork, box-ticking exercises, and with little real impact on the jobsite.

Through their “practical lens,” they took the audience into real situations from everyday demolition and civil engineering work. No theory, no glossy slides—just first-hand experience. The focus was on responsibility, leadership, communication, and on thinking about safety in a way that people actually accept and live by.

Vennes brought the perspective from day-to-day construction and demolition practice at Vennes Erd- u. Tiefbau Abbruch, while Ellsäßer came from the digital—yet clearly practice-driven—world of QIKY. At QIKY, the approach doesn’t come from an ivory tower of software development, but straight from the jobsite: as former site managers in demolition and civil engineering, they know the realities out in the field. This is complemented by close collaboration with machine manufacturers, attachment and safety equipment providers, and regular exchange with the German Social Accident Insurance (BG). It is precisely this proximity to practice that shapes their view of occupational safety.

Using concrete examples, they showed how practice, organization, technology, and digitalization can be connected in a meaningful way. You could see how occupational safety becomes easier to understand, how it supports leadership, and how it truly reaches people on site—without a raised index finger, but with a clear stance.

It wasn’t about being perfect. It was about being honest. About providing impulses you can take with you—into the company, into the team, into everyday work. Occupational safety can be modern. It can be enjoyable. And it can be effective. Anyone ready to question familiar patterns and rethink safety was exactly in the right place in this presentation: with a practical lens, with a wink, and with substance.