Meeting health and safety standards in any industry is unavoidably based, at least to some degree, on checklists and procedures – and even more so when it comes to the business of storing and handling bulk liquids and gases.
But at Stolthaven Terminals, we have made a conscious decision to focus on smart investments in innovation, engagement and continuous, tailored training to foster a culture in which every employee sees themselves as a health and safety lead.
Marco Dalmeijer (pictured), Stolthaven Terminals’ Global Business Director – responsible for safety and operational excellence, explains: “We need to provide the right equipment, tools, infrastructure, technology and training to enable optimum health and safety performance, but ultimately, it always comes down to our people.”
With that in mind, Stolthaven Terminals invests in innovative systems and infrastructure upgrades that go hand in hand with its longstanding commitment to maintaining – if not exceeding – industry standards through regular multi-channel training and, in 2023, a fresh focus on behavioural based safety (BBS).
Investment in innovation
The business has a dedicated working group responsible for researching and introducing new equipment and technology to drive safety performance. But everyone is encouraged to think innovatively and communicate openly to help ensure terminals operate as efficiently and safely as possible, reduce employees’ exposure to potentially hazardous situations and support Stolthaven Terminals' ongoing drive to maintain safety and operational excellence. This democratic approach has given rise to two projects that are having a clear impact on health and safety.
The company’s global digital safety platform, EcoPortal, captures and analyses all incidents, near misses and non-conformities – including minor events – at every site. And with real-time reporting and monitoring comes real-time improvements.
EcoPortal has led to a more dynamic learning environment whereby global safety trends and training needs are being identified faster than ever before. This, in turn, allows safety teams around the world to update training, incorporating the very latest insights and feedback.
Connected Worker is another project that is helping enhance safety and operational performance through real-time data exchange and insights on asset data and safety checks. The system, which is being developed in-house, is allowing Stolthaven to move in-field terminal operations and communications online via an app.
Connected Worker is currently being tested in two terminals and the findings already suggest that it is improving systems and processes by giving employees instant access to operational and safety data and electronic verification checks, reducing manual and paper-based processes – and the inherent potential for human error – and developing an even more digitally competent workforce.
“The concept is relatively new in our industry; not many terminals are using this technology,” says Dalmeijer. “We can see that Connected Worker is enhancing personal safety and productivity – for example, geo-fencing and time stamping on data allows us to see exactly where and when (respectively) a safety check has been performed. And electronic verification codes on equipment add an extra layer of certainty that machinery and systems are being checked and used correctly to optimise our processes and prevent accidents or potential product contamination.”
Furthermore, and just as importantly, Connected Worker provides a more modern, efficient and, yes, ‘connected’ working environment for employees; one in which they are actively engaged in the safety aspects of the tasks they are performing.
People empowerment
Engagement is, in fact, a cornerstone of Stolthaven’s health and safety philosophy, especially when it comes to training. And to say they like to ‘mix it up’ is an understatement. The company recognises that everyone learns differently so material is delivered in a range of formats.
This includes the standard combination of regular classroom-based, in-field and online sessions – led by in-house experts as well as external consultants, campaigns to increase awareness of and reduce complacency around ‘minor’ accidents and entire days dedicated to safety. They also maintain an intranet that is continuously updated with health and safety policies, procedures, lessons learned, and industry information and resources.
"Our mission is to educate and empower everyone to behave as a safety manager.” – Marco Dalmeijer, Stolthaven Terminals’ Global Business Director – responsible for safety and operational excellence
“I’m also keen to introduce more micro-training, whereby we deliver quick bites of information via videos and team huddles, which could be as short as 90 seconds,” says Dalmeijer. His commitment to staying abreast of training trends has him continually liaising with people throughout the company’s global network and engaging with external industry experts and competitors about safety management.
“Ultimately”, he says, “we want our training to be accessible and engaging to all our people across different generations, work environments, roles, skills, cultures and locations. Our mission is to educate and empower everyone to behave as a safety manager.”
Safety in action
In any company, strong safety performance can be undone by forgetting to focus on the ‘little things’ –those so-called minor accidents that people come to believe won’t happen to them, especially as they get more and more comfortable in their role and working environment.
That’s where Stolthaven’s latest BBS campaign, slips, trips and falls, comes in. Currently live in all terminals, the aim is simple: to prevent minor accidents by reminding people to stay alert and resist getting too comfortable with their everyday activities. This could be as (seemingly) obvious as always holding the handrail, so you don’t fall down stairs, wearing safety glasses when required or wearing noise-reduction equipment correctly to prevent ear/hearing damage.
“No matter how unique or challenging your work environment is, you get used to it and it becomes your normal,” Dalmeijer explains. “This naturally leads to complacency and risk normalisation. These campaigns are designed to energise people to be constantly aware of their surroundings, vigilant of the potential risks involved in performing even the most basic of day-to-day tasks and empowered to raise concerns about other people’s behaviour.”
This last action is supported by Stolt-Nielsen's Stop Work Authority programme, which empowers all employees to flag and/or halt work that appears unsafe.
While the BBS campaigns are focused on everyday safety, the terminals’ dedicated safety days are designed to take employees out of their comfort zones and make sure they are prepared for the unexpected.
Every terminal is required to hold one of these events at least once a year for all employees, including office-based workers. They typically include incident and emergency-response simulations, safety assessments and input from external suppliers and stakeholders, such as local fire departments. And this year’s theme for all terminals is, you guessed it, behavioural-based safety.
“It’s essential that we show the leadership and collaboration we want to see at all levels of the company.” – Marco Dalmeijer
Louie Michon, SHEQ Manager, New Orleans, US, explains: “For our terminal, I select the topics in line with the theme, industry trends and feedback from our people. At this year’s safety day in May, for example, our PPE supplier will run a session on how they research, manufacture and test our protective gear and why it’s essential that it’s worn and maintained correctly.
"Another supplier will discuss the steam systems and equipment we use and preventing the associated risks, and we have a doctor providing us with information on wellness and nutrition to help us remain fit for duty.”
Leadership, communication and collaboration
While Stolthaven Terminals’ ethos is to engage and empower everyone to not only contribute but take the lead on health and safety initiatives and performance, Dalmeijer accepts that it begins with management setting the example.
To truly embed an open, no-blame safety culture in which everyone feels they can raise concerns, discuss solutions and work together to drive improvements, employees need to see this in action.
“It’s essential that we show the leadership and collaboration we want to see at all levels of the company,” Dalmeijer explains. “We regularly meet with our sister companies, Stolt Tankers and Stolt Tank Containers, to share insights and developments so we can learn from each other and improve together. We also share safety insights with other organisations and stakeholders so that, collectively, we can continue to raise the bar on industry-wide safety standards.”
The result for Stolthaven Terminals is a workforce that is actively involved in driving the company’s positive trend towards its goal of zero harm globally. But Dalmeijer is not sitting still for a minute. He readily quotes the mantra that keeps him motivated: “Leading global safety expert, Professor Andrew Hopkins, says that management should always have a chronic unease about safety.
“I believe this to be true. We can be proud of our efforts and achievements, but complacency is not an option. We must continue to research, review, learn, act and support our people to live and breathe health and safety every moment of every day.”
