International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) has just revealed another nominee for its Safety Award 2017, the DEME – Worldwide Safety Stand Down.
Launched in 2015, the IADC Safety Award is intended to encourage the development of safety skills on the job, rewarding people and companies demonstrating diligence in safety awareness in the performance of their profession.
DEME actively addresses safety and since 2008, its safety department dedicated itself to instill a company-wide “Safety Culture” through its self-initiated program cultural and behavioral safety program “ Colleagues, Help Injuries to Leave DEME ” (CHILD).
After eight years, the initiative was taken to the next level with CHILD5, which emphasizes four pillars necessary for safety: engagement, collaboration, communication and leadership. One of the program’s noteworthy components was the Worldwide Safety Stand Down.
On Thursday 30 March 2017, DEME’s CEO simultaneously halted all of DEME’s field and office operations around the world for two hours. During the long time frame, every DEME employee, as well as many independent contractors working on stopped projects, watched a video which informed about a recent incident and detailed the results of an investigation into its causes.
A refresher video of the CEO’s “Stop Work Authority” followed in an effort to empower employees to stop any unsafe or unprepared job. Afterwards, employees used a tool called Hazard Hunt to identify unsafe conditions in their working area and at the conclusion of the two hours, signed a personal Safety Charter.
Involving monumental costs and resources in terms of planning and execution, the event and its disruptive approach has led to a significant decline in incidents ever since.
The winner of the Safety Award 2017 will be presented this September at the IADC Annual General Meeting in Marseille, France.