Rijkswaterstaat meets NINA

‘This is a lifestyle’
During the NINA start-up meeting for the Noordwaard depoldering project, project manager Marc Daan was asked by Erik-Jan Houwing, technical manager with the contractor Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (RWS), why no clients are identified in the NINA Safety Statement.

“NINA is only effective when the client can stand behind the underlying vision,” he states. “It is then reasonable to also require compliance with the Values and Rules. Safety is a shared responsibility.”

The Noordwaard project is part of the larger Room for the River (Ruimte voor de Rivier) scheme, as part of which several polders will be restructured on the instructions of RWS. Boskalis will perform some of the work as part of a building consortium. “We’ve organized two NINA start-up meetings,” says Marc Daan, “one for partners and one for the client. Everyone is enthusiastic. In my view, most of the added value is in everyone’s appreciation and acknowledgement of the fact that safety starts with you, your attitude and behavior. This was also apparent in the response from RWS.”
Erik-Jan Houwing (RWS): “NINA is not just a working method, it’s a lifestyle. That’s effective. This is why we are more than happy to embrace it and ensure that our staff familiarizes themselves with NINA.”
A NINA follow-up meeting has been scheduled for the start of 2012 after project implementation gets underway.

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