Dirk-Jan van Leeuwen, Director of Fleet Management Dredging:
“YOU BECOME AWARE OF WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.”

Fleet-wide revised NINA DO-IT workshops will take place with Dredging this year, as part of the NINA Momentum Plan. We need such a momentum, Dirk-Jan van Leeuwen explains: “We now see that a stabilisation occurs, after years of a drop in the number of accidents. Based on both the ambition to further lower the number of accidents and because of our concern that the line must not go up, we have taken action and, inter alia, organise this training.”

The workshops are meant for new employees and as a refresher. Dirk-Jan frequently does the opening and closing. “The trainer pictures a dilemma from the field and invites the participants to actively share their experiences. That is exactly the way we want team members to proactively invite each other to share their input. Openness is the basis for a culture in which everyone feels comfortable to share experiences and ideas with their colleagues.”

Taking a different look at your work
“What strikes me during these sessions is that even today the question of the (alleged) costs of safety against productivity comes up. Employees experience it as an impediment to openly discuss safety. Their drive is to ‘get the job done’. That is what we as a company are successful with and we should cherish that attitude, but we want something more. We want our employees to take a different look at our work, i.e. one should never start a job thoughtlessly and trusting on everyone’s experience (‘I’m sure they know that’). Not surprisingly we are seeing relatively many accidents with ‘routine jobs’, which lack sufficient discussion. I also note that working safely increases efficiency. In this context the workshop also addresses the YES scan: check yourself, your equipment, your surroundings.”

Reaching each other
“I find the discussions about this type of dilemmas an important input. However, as a manager I do not have the answer to all questions. It is a process that we are in together. I see that training leads to many valuable dialogues: we reach each other. That is essential to advance on this issue. It makes you aware again of what it is all about; we are doing well in the field of safety, but things can always be done better