Interview with René Schmidt (EHS Specialist)

The people, the atmosphere and working methods – here you can obtain a personal impression. In brief interviews colleagues report on their job in the company, on their professional development and on their motivation for making their professional contribution within the DAW corporate group. 

René Schmidt, EHS Specialist at Caparol Industrial Solutions, reports on his range of work. April 2015.

"I work anywhere where safety, energy and the environment are concerned: in the office, laboratory, logistics, production ... "

Question: What is your task here at the site?

René Schmidt: I am responsible for the fields of occupational safety, environmental protection, transport of hazardous materials and energy management. For example, I am concerned in ensuring that workplaces are arranged safely and that the applicable regulations are met. I make regular checks on that and, if necessary, ensure that improvements are made or the relevant equipment is provided. Or, in energy management and environmental protection, I make sure that we continually optimise our consumption of resources, for example in that we use energy more efficiently. 

Question: What training do you have?

René Schmidt: I hold a diploma in laboratory and process engineering and have completed additional safety-specialist training with the trade association. That is a 6-week training course for which a prerequisite is a course of study or a master craftsman certificate.

Question: Environment, energy, safety, production – that's a lot of fields! Where have you obtained such background knowledge?

René Schmidt: Firstly, through the course of study. The consolidation option in process engineering was environmental protection or engineering, which gives me my environmental engineering basis. However, there are also further obligatory training sessions every two years on the subjects of waste disposal, emission control, water & waterway regulations, etc. I did the training for specialist for occupational safety within the supplementary training at the trade association – here too, I have to go through annual training. Energy management was an internal training course and the hazardous goods officer was a training course appropriate to the transport operators. In this case there is a repeat examination every five years. 

Question: So you get involved everywhere – even in production?

René Schmidt: Indirectly yes. For example, when a new raw material comes in, I deal with its handling with respect to the relevant safety aspects, whether we need protective gear or certain equipment. I am also involved in the instruction when our employees are trained. The contact to the Production Department is very close; I take a look at the operational procedures and speak regularly with the people.

Question: You have been working here since 2010. What brought you to Caparol Industrial Solutions?

René Schmidt: I did my diploma course at the vocational academy in Riesa and after the diploma my tutor informed me about the position here.

Question: What is special about your job and your range of tasks?

René Schmidt: The nice thing about my scope of tasks is that I can arrange it relatively freely, organising my tasks and procedures myself, because I am not directly linked to the Production Department. It's super to be involved everywhere and to get an insight into all the areas. On the other hand, I'm occasionally a source of irritation to others, because I have a say in everything and often even have the last word.

Question: You are still relatively young and have quite a responsible job ...

René Schmidt: Yes, but you learn on the job and grow with the challenges.