“We noticed that everyone was mostly reacting, rather than acting.” comments project director Frank Stikkel. “As a joint venture, we wanted to achieve some improvement in that area: we want everyone to take personal responsibility.” All of the partners’ supervisors have now attended a NINA management course. Roland Garn, project manager at German company Hochtief, was one of them. So what does he think about NINA? “NINA is taught in an interactive way, and that really appeals to me. You are encouraged to look at safety from various standpoints and to take an active role in
considering how we can make the site safer as a team.”

Eyes and ears open
In addition to Boskalis and Hochtief, the joint venture consists of Danish company Per Aarsleff and Polish company Doraco, each of which works with its own subcontractors. The joint venture is extremely pressed for time, because the arrival of the first shipment of gas (2014) cannot be postponed. “So we have to continue to
emphasize safety - in each and every consultation and toolbox meeting,” says Frank Stikkel. Roland Garn agrees. “Of course your outlook on safety doesn’t change radically after a one-day training, but everyone can work with the NINA Values and Rules because they are both realistic and easy to understand. It helps increase
your awareness. Now, when I walk outside, I keep my eyes and my ears open. Since the training, I have also lost some of my previous tendency to associate safety measures with money - blaming an incident on a lack of money is too easy. So much change is possible when you start with yourself."

Recommendations
A number of recommendations came out of the NINA training.
For example, a safety committee will be established, in which our
partners’ staff, ranging from crane operators to foremen, can discuss
their ideas about safety. And joint management now goes on weekly
rounds of the entire project to evaluate safety. “That promotes effective
communication,” says Frank Stikkel, “It teaches everyone to look at
safety in the same way. NINA shows that the management actively
supports a collective safety policy. With NINA, people commit to
safety.