Risk Inventory and Assessment, (or Risico-inventarisatie en -Evaluatie, RI&E in Dutch), is a mandatory system for monitoring and improving conditions which influence the safety and health of workers. It consists of 2 parts: an inventory of risks, and an action plan to limit those risks. At Gunnebo, the ‘RI&E Prevention officer‘ is Production Manager Bennie Bus. He is assisted by George Kooijmans, Shift-leader, and Jos Stuyt, a QHSE- officer (Quality, Health, Safety and Environment). Yet RI&E is far from the only framework for health and safety at Gunnebo’s production facility. Think of regulations and legislation on a Dutch and European level, and an extensive ISO certification system, which both ensures product quality and the quality of process management operations – including those for health and safety.

Since 2016, George Kooijmans is dedicated to the implementation of health and safety measures on the production floor. Measures that only will be effective if they are genuinely supported by the workers. “As a team-leader, and later as a shift-leader, I always considered safety an important issue. If someone would have been hurt due to negligence on my part – the thought of it has always scared me. Before 1989, we were a family business, and many colleagues have worked here for decades. “Hearing protection? Safety glasses? I’ve always managed without them” – that was a frequent reply. Still, the use of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) has become custom. Some people have an aversion to mouth caps. “I can hardly breath”, they say. Well, not in my book – in such cases, I’m adamant. “If you don’t use them, than we’ll reconsider if there’s work for you here.” .

“A small example of an improvement is the recent replacement of our safety glasses. People complained that particles ricochetted into their eyes. So we selected a number of brands and models, and handed them out among a test-group. Based on feedback we selected a new model. Slightly more expensive, but also more durable. Likewise with the air-filters of our welding helmets. A once-a-week replacement was custom, but we regularly found the filters to be clogged when we replaced them. Now, employees check their filters every day before use, en replace them when needed.”

Such measures are relatively easy to implement, and are a significant improvement. Yet, in a factory, there’s the ever reoccurring pressure to produce. You can’t simply bring things to a halt, clear the production floor, and take all the time you need to improve aspects of the production infrastructure. At Gunnebo, the safes are, at different stages of the assembly, transported in between stations by trolleys on a rail, and by cranes. “It does happen, though rare, that a safe will simply tumble of a trolley when there’s a collision on the rail, or on a swivel plate. When people are just to busy with their work. That’s due in part to the factory floor being slightly uneven at some points. We now are working intensively to fix these spots. And, when discussing the Gunnebo 2020 plan for automation, I submitted this as a major area for improvement. ”

Other focus areas for George Kooijmans and Jos Stuyt are hazardous substances, and the physical strains on workers. Smoke generated by welding contains metal particles, which can be harmful. An enormous exhaust extraction system was installed to minimise the level of particles and particle matter to an acceptable level. “To be fair – at times, the work is demanding, physically. With repetitive activities. Another point of focus is the manual pushing and pulling of the trolleys, to get them in motion on the rails. Something which we will improve tremendously when, with the Gunnebo 2020 project, safes will no longer rest on lorries, but will be transported automatically via a system of hanging rails.”

For Jos Stuyt, on the one hand, there is an extensive framework of regulations stemming from the Dutch legislation on health and safety at the workplace (the ‘Arbowet’), the RI&E framework, the European REACH legislation and the environmental legislation. On the other side, there are the requirements of the ISO certifications. “If you look at the regulations, ‘the law’ so to speak, than I merely monitor if we continue to comply with these, as a company. Take, for instance, the RI&E framework. If the Dutch authority on health and safety at work audits us, than they will primarily ask for our action plan. Looking at the ISO certifications – they break down into 2 elements: product certificates, and system-certificates. The latter deal with the business- and process-management. For example: how does a company integrates legislative requirements into their processes? And in what way is this integration effective? When we are audited by these certifying institutes, usually once a year, I accompany the auditors when they visit us. Such audits result in findings, in observations, and these, in turn lead to new measures to address them. In this way, you continuously improve within a structured framework.”

“I regard the substantial changes in the requirements of the ISO certificates which occur every 6 or 7 years as positive. It reflects the changes in our society. And the current norms align well with a more modern style of management. In previous models, there was an emphasis on documenting every little step, every signature stroke. The current norms no longer require this – there’s no need to meticulously document every process. However, there’s still the obligation to document the outcomes of an extensive set of inspections and reviews, related to regulations. And I must say – sometimes I feel the attitude of auditors, though only occasionally, can be patronising. With an emphasis on logging every little detail. We are a manufacturing company, with the continuous necessity to produce, within a fast changing setting of regulations, technical changes, market developments and so on. We can’t afford an extensive team of people running around with a measuring tape. Fortunately, these discussions with auditors no longer make me sleepless. I’ve learned to prepare for, and approach them in a more productive way.”

Thus, both men cooperate in improving health and safety, Jos Stuyt working from his office, and George Kooijmans at the shop floor. George: “If there’s an issue, we discuss it, and together, we look for a solution”. Jos: “I myself have worked as a production worker, and did not always use my welding helmet. People say: “This is how I’ve done it for 40 years, and you just tell me to change it?” But it isn’t really me personally – it’s the evolving world which brings about these changes. Changes that affect us all. Some adapt sooner than others. And together we have to make sure it´s never to late.”