Dear colleagues,
Over the past year, our teams have made real progress in strengthening safety across our projects. More presence on sites, more interventions, and stronger engagement with subcontractors have contributed to clear improvements in our indicators and better control of high‑risk activities. These efforts reflect the daily application of our Fundamental Safety Principles, our Life Saving Rules, and the BE SAFE mindset.
To keep this momentum, we must stay focused and disciplined.
Last year, we also experienced critical accidents with human impact, including line‑of‑fire situations. These events reminded us that some of our most common activities still require full attention. This is why Life Saving Rule #3 – Line of Fire is the theme of GSTO 2026, focusing on three recurring risks:
- Mobile equipment and vehicles
- Lifted loads
- Pressurised systems
These exposures are present across most of our operations and can be managed effectively when leaders and teams apply consistent controls, supported by practices such as Management Safety Walks and strong Subcontractor Engagement.
A single GSTO pack – adaptable and multilingual
This year, all teams will use one unified GSTO pack, designed as a practical and flexible campaign. Each project or affiliate can choose the topic most relevant to their activities and adapt the content to ensure discussions remain concrete and meaningful.
To support communication, knowledge transfer, and participation, the pack is available in no less than 23 languages. Great efforts to support you in enhancing your event.
Your GSTO session leaders – managers, supervisors, engineers, or HSE colleagues – will facilitate these sessions. Their role is to prepare well, select relevant examples, and lead discussions that result in practical improvements, aligned with our Safety Pledge and BE SAFE principles.
GSTO packs are made available via the QHSE network including GSTO delivery guidance for Session leaders.
Our expectations for 2026
Each GSTO should lead to four outcomes:
- A clear understanding of your line‑of‑fire exposures
- Practical improvement actions linked to controls, planning, supervision, and behaviours
- Ownership and follow‑up through the integration of actions into project or affiliate plans
- A strong engagement with our Partners, Clients, and Subcontractors (last year GSTO impressive attendance with more than 30,000 attendances will be difficult but not impossible to beat!)
Let’s reinforce our momentum
The progress achieved last year came from discipline and visible leadership. GSTO 2026 is an opportunity to strengthen these foundations, align our teams, and ensure our operations remain safe, predictable, and well‑controlled.
Every person on our sites deserves safe conditions every day. Protecting them is our shared responsibility and a reflection of the culture we want to build at BESIX Group.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment.
Pierre Sironval, CEO BESIX Group
Jan Van Steirteghem, COO BESIX Construction
Geert Aelbrecht, General Manager Regionals & Specialised Contractors
Alexis Laroche, Corp. Director QHSE, BESIX Group
