“The board has shown a shocking lack of safety awareness” was the judge’s response in 2012 during the aftermath of the Chemie-Pack disaster. This verdict uncovers a deeper underlying problem: low safety awareness among certain organizations regarding hazardous substances. The Dutch chemical industry is currently covered by Besluit risico’s zware ongevallen 2015 (BRZO) legislation, whereas government agencies maintain the law more strictly. But safety awareness cannot be improved by legislation alone.
A consortium of 5 parties led by Risk Management Control BV addresses this problem. In a pilot project including interactive training in the employees’ own workplace, smart sensoring systems, mobile apps, and continuous monitoring, the safety awareness of staff in one of many chemical warehouses in the Botlek area is being improved. “This fun way of safety training is far more appealing than the usual boring periodic classroom trainings”, says one of the warehouse employees. TechForce enabled finance for this project, that aims to implement the new training method nationwide. Through frequent progress meetings, TechForce is also monitoring the technical and financial progress of the project.