As in the previous year, this year’s Safety Day once again took the form of a Safety Week: from September 13 to 17, 2021. Each national subsidiary was free to choose the optimal timing for its own Safety Day during that week. Pandemic-related precautions also had to be taken. The interconnecting motto of Safety Week 2021 was “Managing risks.”

Examples of Safety Week implementation
At Messer’s German locations in Bad Soden, Krefeld and Bad Hönningen, Messer Safety Day took the form of a virtual meeting: A presentation explained the significance and sense of risk analyses. Practical examples showed how complex professional risk management can be.
At our production sites in Castrop-Rauxel, Salzgitter, Siegen and Speyer, the employees gathered for in-person meetings in small groups.

At Messer in France, a total of 17 in-person workshops were held in small groups at nine locations. Two virtual meetings were also organized, where one of the main messages was that risk management concerns all of us and not just our employees in the production facilities or filling plants.

Because Messer in Poland equipped its locations with defibrillators in 2021, Safety Week there started with an online training course about their operation. Presentations about risk management and a subsequent feedback session rounded out the activities.

Messer in Switzerland organized a fire protection exercise for employees. Among other things, employees learned how to use a fire blanket and to identify various types of fire extinguishers.

Messer in Spain organized all events as online meetings. There were video conferences where the significance and purpose of risk analyses and concrete measures were presented. Employees with direct access to the company’s own computers attended the video conference in the conference rooms of the production plants.

The team from Messer in Thailand organized a meeting in the hall of its filling plant. The presentation emphasized personal accountability among all employees – every time and everywhere.

In Hungary, Dr. Emil Toldy-Schedel, founder of Hungary’s first post-Covid center, gave a presentation. He explained the complexity of a therapy process for treating the long-term effects of a Covid-19 infection.

In recent years, Messer in Brazil has launched initiatives for the early detection of breast and prostate cancer. To raise the workforce’s awareness of cancer prevention, virtual meetings with doctors were held, e-mails were sent out, and information was provided via LinkedIn. In Brazil, breast cancer is one of the most fatal diseases in women from 35 to 54 years of age. Prostate cancer is considered to be the second most frequent form of cancer among men.

Messer in Spain conducts annual safety drills. In November, their plants in El Morell and Vilaseca simulated hazardous conditions that can occur in connection with oxygen and hydrogen. The exercises were supported by the fire departments of the Tarragona chemical complex, which are maintained by the member firms of the local chemical association.

Jason Caver, plant technician at Messer Americas in Birmingham, Alabama organized plant tours for local rescue personnel in small groups. The visitors were given an overview of the operations of the plant. Site tours focused on the rescue personnel’s correct response during potential emergencies on the company grounds along with the minimization of associated dangers.

Messer Americas used online training courses to raise awareness for the dangers of falling objects. Employees of Messer and of outside companies participated. DROPS, as the training program was aptly named, relied on the train-the-trainer model, whereby people who had already been trained could pass their newly gained knowledge along to the rest of their team.

The coronavirus pandemic caused a dramatic increase in the demand for medical oxygen, especially during the second and third waves. Messer undertook a series of actions to address it. In filling plants for cylinder gases, which normally manage with a day shift, additional shifts were organized. At peak times, some plants worked around the clock. The same was true of logistics. One unit that had been shut down was restarted.

At -70°C, the mRNA vaccine against the Covid-19 virus remains stable for a long time. To maintain that temperature while transporting the vaccine, dry ice is often used: it has a temperature of -78.5°C. Since the approval of the first mRNA vaccine, the Messer subsidiary ASCO has experienced a huge increase in demand for dry ice and the associated equipment. Many logistics companies have built up the relevant infrastructure, often relying on expertise and products from ASCO and Messer as well as partner companies.

Freeze-drying can keep the active ingredients of drugs and vaccines as well as the vitality of bacteria cultures intact for extended periods. And liquid nitrogen is ideally suited to provide the required cooling. Messer works in close collaboration with manufacturers of the equipment required for these applications.

Nitrous oxide is both a widely used anesthetic and an extremely powerful greenhouse gas. Messer works together with the Swedish medical technology firm Medclair to prevent unnecessary release. Medclair’s product range includes stationary and mobile devices that capture the anesthetic exhaled from the lungs of patients. These “destruction units” use heat to break the nitrous oxide down into its harmless components – nitrogen and oxygen. Messer and Medclair signed a partnership agreement in December of 2021: Medclair supplies the technology for N₂O neutralization; Messer supports sales in the healthcare sector and develops additional markets for the climate protection devices.

Along with cryogenically liquefied nitrogen, the fertility clinics of the international Vivaneo Group in some countries use a ternary mixture from Messer to grow egg cells and embryos in the incubator. In this new collaboration, Messer had two strong sales arguments: the application-specific gas mixture itself and its immediate availability – six weeks is the typical lead time in this market. Messer also supports the fertility clinics with reliable liquid nitrogen service.

In early May of 2021, Messer in Austria delivered 400 steel cylinders for medical oxygen, which were ordered by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and the Organizational Development Department of the Workers' Samaritan Foundation Austria. The cylinders were part of an aid shipment sent to India by air freight. At that time, Indian hospitals and clinics were in an extremely critical situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Among other things, there was a serious lack of medical oxygen and oxygen tanks.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Messer in Colombia developed a concept for providing online information to people who suffer from sleep apnea. The offering featured webinars led by experts from the fields of medicine, therapy and psychology, who specialized in the treatment of sleep disorder-related diseases.

On March 30, 2021, a medical expert panel convened for the first time at Messer in France. The purpose of the event was to prepare for the market launch of Serynox/Placynox, an equimolar mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide. Participants discussed its use and the associated benefits in the medical field, including obstetrics.

Pharmaceutical packaging must be sealed to maintain the sterility of the contents and keep contaminants out. Seals are inspected using laser beams and sensors along with purge and calibration gases. The German machinery manufacturer Wilco has automated this process with high-tech machines and procures the necessary laboratory gases from Messer. Moreover, Wilco uses CO₂ for so-called “bombing.” This involves exposing containers to a high-pressure carbon dioxide atmosphere in a closed chamber. The process detects any leaks in a matter of seconds.

Asklepios Klinik in Langen, Germany, expanded its ICU bed capacity. While on a ventilator, intensive care patients there receive a precisely metered quantity of nitrogen monoxide, which Messer provides in medical gas cylinders with nitrogen as a carrier gas. Messer also supplies consumables such as tubing for metering and measurement systems along with various accessories.

The Hungarian sales team developed a gas cylinder trolley specifically tailored to meet the needs of hospitals and clinics. It is handy, easy to move, and offers space for two medical gas cylinders. A quick-change system makes it possible to switch the hose connection from one cylinder to the other very easily. The new trolley is used to supply medical gases for in-patient care.

Messer in Hungary signed an agreement with the National Public Health Center (NNK) to supply special gas mixtures and CO₂. The gases are needed for coronavirus research. CO₂ serves as the atmosphere for bacteria cultures and cell growth.

Messer supported the establishment of Hungary’s first post-Covid center at Szent Ferenc Hospital in Budapest with a donation, gases expertise and the necessary products. Messer installed the technical equipment for the sophisticated gas supply system and satisfied the dramatically increased demand for gases used in post-Covid therapy.

The Dutch company Breathomix specializes in breath analysis and the development of so-called “electronic noses,” which can be used for the simple, rapid detection of a wide range of diseases, including pulmonary diseases. The “SpiroNose” electronic nose analyzes the full range of volatile organic compounds in exhaled air in real time, and can thereby rule out a SARS-CoV-2 infection within one minute. The device is calibrated with one of our gas mixtures.

To ensure an adequate supply of oxygen during the coronavirus pandemic, Messer installed higher capacity oxygen evaporators in several Slovakian hospitals. As the main provider of medical gases in Slovakia, we also resupplied them with the necessary oxygen.

Since early 2020, Messer has been supplying medical gases to Burgos University Hospital. During the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Burgos was one of the hot spots in Spain. The university hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the region, treated most of the Covid cases there, so the demand for medical oxygen rose dramatically. Messer installed a mobile auxiliary tank along with an additional evaporator and ensured the resupply of medical oxygen.

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood likely hold the key to healing some serious diseases. At the Spanish cell bank VidaCord, parents can store the valuable material for future use. The cord blood is collected after birth and the nucleated cells, which also include the hematopoietic stem cells, are separated and cryogenically stored. The cooling and storage facilities use liquid nitrogen from Messer.