Stolthaven holds Safety Days at its terminals globally
As part of the ongoing drive to improve and reinforce Stolthaven Terminals’ safety culture several Safety days were held at its terminals globally. The initial focus included promotion of safety awareness for employees and their responsibility to their colleagues and highlighting local issues specific to the individual terminals.
“Everyone should have the expectation that they can return home from work safely, without injury or incident,” the company said.
The problem? No matter what the risks are in our day-to-day lives, after time we become accustomed to them. In other words, those risks become part of ‘normal’ life and are taken for granted. Complacency can then become the risk. When Stolthaven held its first global, coordinated safety day, the messages were to the point and lessons were learned.
A second safety day will be held later in the year, as part of the ongoing drive to improve and reinforce the company’s safety culture.The initial focus included promotion of safety awareness for employees and their responsibility to their colleagues; engaging employees to focus on safety as a ‘time out’ from their normal duties; and highlighting local issues specific to the individual terminals.
Among the day’s events, Stolthaven Moerdijk, in the Netherlands, incorporated the safety day into its team event day, delivering team building with an external facilitator. In the UK, Stolthaven Dagenham focused on its suppliers providing background information. This helped employees to understand exactly why we wear PPE, not just that we have to wear it. There was also a focus on how safety-critical components work – and why no one should just walk past if they notice that a component is damaged.
Stolthaven Houston explored risk awareness and how it impacts on everyone, personally and professionally. The terminal’s safety day started with video and leadership messages, which were followed by group presentations, department showcases on how they reduce risks for the terminal, and finally a celebration of service awards.
Houston based SHEQ Manager Richey Austin said: “Risk is something common to all personnel, yet viewed differently based upon individual life experiences. By continuing to focus on risk awareness and prevention, we are better able to safely control the environment in which we work daily.”
Richey has a diverse background in SHEQ and business management, with 30 years’ experience in the petrochemical industry, including terminals, chemicals, refining, and manufacturing. He said: “I joined Stolthaven Houston in 2014 with a mission to help the terminal be the best it can be in all aspects of the operation. What has been foremost in the team efforts at the terminal is making the SNL standards of ‘do it right or not at all’ a priority. In order to achieve this objective, it takes a culture shift, so people understand what it means to meet the Stolt-Nielsen standard.
“For the near future at Stolthaven Houston, we will continue with Project Phoenix, which includes a focus on safety, operational efficiencies, culture enhancements, sustainable profitability and infrastructure improvements throughout the terminal.”
Taking care of people and our planet is Stolt-Nielsen’s number one priority, emphasised Steve Walker, Global SHEQ Manager. “This commitment, across the Company, is based on creating an in-depth, hands-on awareness of safety issues across the workforce and in the highest levels of management; ensuring that the right resources are provided to ensure safety, including training programmes; focusing on rigorous compliance in an increasingly complex regulatory industry; and driving company-wide implementation of safety processes and reporting.”
All Stolthaven terminals are compliant with the rules and regulations required nationally and internationally. Each of them produces a Safety Document that identifies how possible major incidents might happen and lays out in detail the control measures to prevent such incidents, as well as emergency plans to mitigate the effects of any such incident.
For more information, visit: www.stolt-nielsen.com
13th July 2018
