35 / 88
The packaging recycling plant
in Salamanca wins prize for an
innovative occupational safety idea
Francisco Esteban
, IT manager at FCC Construcción, is the new
chairman of the Technical Association of Ports and Coasts
The Salamanca Packaging Recycling Plant
in Salamanca, managed by FCC, received
the first prize in the Contest of Ideas orga-
nized by the Asociación de Empresas de
Recuperación y Selección de Envases y
Residuos Municipales (ASPLARSEM). The
objective of the contest, aimed at the em-
ployees of the facilities, is to promote inno-
vative ideas for improving the processes
and safety at plants in charge of recycling
packaging materials.
Francisco Esteban Lefler, manager of Inno-
vation and Technology at FCC Construc-
ción, was named chairman of the Techni-
cal Association of Ports and Coasts, also
assuming the chairmanship, for a four-year
term, of the Spanish section of the World
Association for Waterbor-
ne Transport Infrastructu-
re (PIANC).
The executive from the
Citizen Services Group
who also has broad expe-
rience in maritime works,
was recently awarded by
the Ports Association of
Japan for disseminating a
report, published by Mar-
Com, the Maritime Com-
mission of PIANC, on the
effects of the tsunami on
the country’s harbours.
Javier Vázquez de Prada, Plant Coordinator,
collects the prize from Miguel Angel Clavero,
secretary of TERSA.
The innovative idea was designed by Felipe
SegoviaMelgar, head of the waste treatment
plant in Segovia; Javier Vázquez de Prada,
coordinator of the waste treatment plants in
Valladolid and Salamanca; and by Teodoro
Pérez, a Prevention technician at the facili-
ties. The project was submitted with the tit-
le “Device for halting the machine in the belt
transporting the packaging to the presses”.
The project involves the installation of an
electronic device on the transporter belt
and a sensor for the press operator so that
when there is any sign of danger, it emits
a radio-frequency signal which stops the
transporter belt, minimising the risk of being
trapped in the event that an operator falls
in the belt and is transported to the press.
The Asociación Técnica de Puertos y Cos-
tas (ATPYC, Spanish acronym) was created
in 1999 and integrated the functions of the
Spanish section of PIANC, which had been
formerly functioning as the governmental
delegation of the current Ministry of Develo-
pment. FCC Construcción
has been a corporate part-
ner of the association since
its founding.
Esteban Lefler has a civil
engineering degree from
Universidad Politécnica de
Madrid and his career has
been linked to the Minis-
try of the Defence in the
Department of Military Na-
val Constructions, Central
Park of Transmissions, and
the General Department of
Infrastructure where he was
the manager of the NATO Infrastructure
Units and Environmental Protection.
In 1993, he provided his services in the Te-
chnical Department of the Public Entity of
the State’s Harbours as head of the Pro-
jects Department. A year later, he joined the
Technical Department of FCC Construcción
as head of the Maritime Works Department.
e o p l e