Enel's ZAP Bags Health & Safety Award

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A commitment to the safety of its workers and innovation are two distinctive features of the Enel Group, which is pursuing its target of zero accidents through the use of cutting-edge safety technology.

Enel will be acknowledged for this work once again at the opening ceremony of the VGB Congress Power Plants 2014 taking place today, 17 September, in Hamburg, where the Zero Accident Project (ZAP) will receive the Safety & Health Award 2014 from the Verband der Großkessel-Besitzer association (VGB). ZAP will be given the award for its innovation in technology and its practical, effective approach to safety.

The project make use of the technological expertise developed by the Group over the years, supplying those responsible for safety with cutting-edge tools that enable the continuous monitoring and real time analysis of safety levels at construction sites. The project will integrate a number of different systems and technologies, such as the Safety Door, which is used to check that workers who enter the site are equipped with the basic protection devices. There is also a system that locates workers, the Totem touch screen that enables communication at construction sites and the Safety Badge, which monitors operators' vital statistics and sends SOSs when necessary.

After initial tests carried out at the Experimental Area in Livorno, the project is currently undergoing full-scale testing at the coal domes construction site at Enel's Brindisi plant.

The ZAP programme could be extended across the Group's traditional generation, renewable energy and network activities. In order to ensure higher safety standards while increasing worker comfort and mobility, nanostructured materials are currently for gloves to be used by Enel Distribuzione employees who operate in middle and low voltage are currently being tested. These tests are being carried out by the Enel Group alongside the Italian Technology Institute (IIT) in response to a request from Enel's Infrastructure & Networks Division. This work has led to a prototype material that combines electricity isolation, mechanical resilience and resistance to flame exposure.