Raising the Health and Safety Flag
Our industry is by nature hazardous. Now, as activity ramps up across our yards, mitigating both safety and health hazards takes on new importance. It becomes our top priority to promise ourselves and our loved ones that we’ll do everything in our power to ensure everyone gets home safely from work — every day.
Health, Safety, Security and the Environment (HSSE) is about so much more than slogans. It is about safety systems and procedures; communication and collaboration, building and maintaining a safety culture, and using best available technology. Improving HSSE requires our people to participate, take responsibility, commit to following rules, challenge unsafe work practices or attitudes, and propose changes and improvements.
Getting home safely every day implies that everyone makes it home without injury, without the overload that exposes them to other health risks and without having harmed the environment.
Together with our partners, suppliers and clients we shall deliver world class HSSE performance. That will secure our future and the future of our company. Everyone involved in our activities has the responsibility to contribute to this, and everyone plays an important role in the work towards achieving an injury and illness free workplace, where everyone is happy, and where we care for the environment.
A history of caring
Getting everyone home safely drives the Norwegian tradition of sharing HSSE information across companies and industries. Safety programs and standards include Life-saving Rules and A Common Yard Introduction Program.
Aker Solutions launched the first Always Home Safely program together with Equinor back in 2017, during the first phase of the Njord A Upgrade project. The safe-work program has since spread to several companies and projects in many countries.
”We have come a long way. Since 2015, we’ve implemented clear requirements for work at height by providing good examples and training, which has reduced dropped object incidents by over 80 percent,” says HSSE Development Manager, Torstein Leth.
The incident numbers were crunched for Stord, Norway’s largest fabrication yard, however Leth says they are indicative of positive safety results company-wide. “I am pretty sure that we can say (the trend) is valid for the company as well.”
Safety does not have a finish line, and we must always improve. Therefore, Aker Solutions is revitalizing this safety program and inviting our customers to join in raising the Always Home Safely flag at several of our locations. The flag-raising coincides with signatures pledging the renewed commitment to safe work.
HSSE renewal
Do you know, that in Aker Solutions, every individual has the right — and the duty — to stop inappropriate conduct, unsafe acts and to preempt hazardous situations.
“If you see it, you own it” is a key motto of our safety doctrine. It maintains, that regardless of your position, you have the authorization to stop unsafe work. Using this stop-work authorization is seen as a sign of care for the lives of colleagues, the integrity of the workplace and for Aker Solutions.
To support employees in staying safe and reflect on possible hazard, we have just issued a new HSSE Handbook for our Norwegian yards. The work of nurturing a safety culture with customers, partners, subcontractors, and competitors continues, as it must.
For a glimpse into HSSE at Aker Solutions, here’s the employee view: