BSB Industry could have fired Allan

"Allan is a class act blessed with a fighting heart from heaven. He has worked his butt off from his first day at BSB Industry and has always shown fantastic go-ahead, even though he has been severely tested by illness", says partner and COO Bjarne Elneff, BSB Industry who helped recruit Allan Nielsen as an adult boiler maker apprentice in 2004, a decision he has never had any reason to regret.

"We have always loved Allan. He is very skilled professionally and extremely well-liked in the workplace. The latter is not least due to the fact that he has always been 100 percent open and honest about the challenges he has faced with a chronic kidney disease and very tough recent heart transplant," says Bjarne Elneff who emphasizes that a possible termination of Allan’s employment due to the difficult circumstances has never even entered his mind.

"People are more important than money to us at BSB Industry. Allan has been with the team almost from the get-go. He is one of our cultural bearers and enjoys an almost legendary status in the company. We used to tell Allan whenever he was stricken with illness that there would be room for him whenever he would be able to return. In fact, we have often urged him to take it easy, but he would have none of it. Allan is the kind of guy that always wants to move ahead. He can't just sit still and relax," says Bjarne Elneff with a smile.

Open-minded approach and healthy values

Allan Nielsen nods approvingly to these kind words as he is still going strong at BSB Industry, now in a less physically demanding position as maintenance and calibration manager, having left his earlier job at the laser cutting machines.

"I'm not much for staying home. I love my work and being part of the BSB Industry-family. Already a month after the heart transplant, I quietly resumed my work, simply because I cannot do without it," says Allan Nielsen, who is indeed pleased that the Lunderskov, Jutland-based company has shown great understanding and empathy for him in his long struggle with illnesses.

"I have never seen, heard or experienced any kind of negativity from management with regard to my kidney disease or heart transplant. They might with good cause have taken steps to dismiss me due to my extended periods of illness, but that never happened. On the contrary, they have backed me up and found a way forward, and I am forever grateful for that," explains Allan Nielsen.

His career change to that of maintenance and calibration manager is a great example of what is means to be an inclusive and empathic company.

"Working at the laser cutting machines, I held one of the first positions in the production line. Whenever I was absent due to illness, it caused trouble to everyone else because they were dependent on me delivering. The situation was unacceptable to me and I was about to quit, but couldn’t do it. Also the company wanted to keep me. Finally they came up with the solution of transferring me to the position as maintenance and calibration manager," Allan Nielsen says.

His thoughts wander back to the time when his congested heart failure had almost fatal consequences for himself and his family.

"It was during a vacation on the Danish island of Fanø with my wife and three children, that I got hit. The doctor told me afterwards that I had two huge blood clots in my heart. My ability to function went down to just 10-15 percent. I got my heart transplant in 2018. Before surgery, Benny and Bjarne Elneff visited me. They brought a present and flowers for my wife. They told me to take all the time I needed. When I would be healthy again, there would be a position for me at BSB Industry, they told me. That meant tremendous financial security to me and my family. I think it says all about their humanity that they took the time to visit me in the hospital before surgery," says Allan Nielsen as he continues to complete his task of calibrating the cutting tools for the machining and welding of steel, stainless steel and aluminum.