Back to basics - A look back on HSE Week 2023

Ampelmann CEO, Jan van der Tempel, kicked off the week with his opening speech sharing the importance of the safety culture at the company, how it applies to all areas of Ampelmann’s work and how we strive to ensure that everyone comes to work and returns home safely every day.

During this annual event at Ampelmann - all our offices around the globe organised and participated in a variety of workshops and heard from experts focused on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). Many of our regional offices held First Aid trainings, an essential skill to have and a definitive way to ensure safety in our offices. Along with these workshops, our HSE team coordinated presentations from experts in safety in the field of offshore work. These experts shared:

• the key components of ‘Back to basics’,
• how our own attitude and behaviour play a role in this,
• how we can develop a critical mind and be able to transfer important knowledge to ensure that we stay safe on the job.

“Just like in sports, we can only achieve great things by knowing and mastering the basics. In safety these are a set of basic rules, written and unwritten, and the core values of our company. Those are the building blocks that define our responsibilities as employers and employees to always Stay Safe,” says Krissi Silianova, HSE Engineer and organiser of HSE Week. “This is why, we found it important to give our company a strong refresher of our safety values and not necessarily learn new things. This year's HSE theme is about taking care of ourselves and others, staying aware and knowing what our values are. This is the backbone of Ampelmann and from there we will sail on to new waters to expand our knowledge.”

HSE is crucial in all areas of our business. At our production facility in Rotterdam, all employees follow the appropriate fundamental trainings and courses to ensure a safe working environment. In order to enhance this, there was a workshop on Manual Handling, which covered topics such as the importance of working safely and responsibly, and maintaining healthy posture when using equipment.

Throughout the week, safety was a major topic of discussion, but of course, there was also plenty of time dedicated to the H and E in HSE. To learn more about sustainability and the future of our environment, an expert from the Port of Rotterdam Authority talked about how the port is working with the government and the businesses around on a future-proof port together. During this presentation, the presenter touched upon the approach, the results and the dilemmas of the Port of Rotterdam Authority in their ambition to become one of the most sustainable ports in the world.

To touch on the health aspect of HSE, we are committed to the second Thursday of September each year when we raise awareness on different aspects of mental health. This year’s topic was Psychological Safety. With the support and insights of an expert in the field, we made an introduction to the topic and focussed on the importance of creating a safe environment for each other at work and how to recognise signals of when others need help and how to act on them.

This year’s HSE Week was another well-rounded week of events that reminded the Ampelmann community of the importance of HSE basics and how we can all play a part in ensuring the safety and health of ourselves, each other and the planet.

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