Health and Safety on the road… by 2 Belgian colleagues

On a Tuesday afternoon at around 3.30 pm, Ludovic Konikiewicz and Salvatore Mira were calmly driving back to Liège after a series of repair works on ArcelorMittal’s Ougrée site. All of a sudden, their attention was drawn to a crowd of people and a trailer in the middle of the road. Immediately, they realised a car had fallen into the river Meuse…

Without hesitation, Ludovic and Salvatore crossed the shattered guardrail and went down to the riverbank to nurse the 2 wounded, who were lying at the water’s edge covered with blood.

Ludovic explains: “It was a couple. The man had suffered a head injury. I turned him on his side to ensure an open airway and compressed his wound.” At the same time, Salvatore provided assistance to the woman by putting a jacket under her head and cleaning the blood around her respiratory tract. The couple was clearly in shock.

It took more than 10 minutes for the emergency services to arrive. During this time Ludovic and Salvatore talked to the wounded couple in order to keep them conscious. They were finally taken to the hospital to undergo further treatment.

Eric Volders, Foreman with the Low-Tension Electric team, is extremely proud of his colleagues: “They analysed the situation and reacted very well, perfectly implementing the lessons learnt during their recent first aid training. Their training, the 5 safety minutes, the daily risks and – first and foremost – their courage turned this spontaneous act into a great example of civility.”