It is not only a question of complying with laws, rules and regulations when handling dangerous goods. It is also a question of the approach to safety, says Environmental Manager, Charlotte Breinholt of Junckers, Køge.

Organisations that transport, ship and receive dangerous goods must appoint a safety advisor as it says in a legislation from 1999 introduced by the Danish Road Safety and Transport Agency. The act applies even if the company is not a transport business as such.

Therefore, the act also applies to Junckers in Køge where the employees are handling dangerous goods every day all year round, primarily in the form of chemicals and various gasses.

As indicated above, handling dangerous goods in a safe manner is not only a question of handling the chemicals and gasses appropriately. It takes a lot more.

“It is one thing to be in control of the physical handling of dangerous goods, quite another to do the paper work since it involves a good deal of administration. At Junckers we have obtained certification within environment and safety (OH & S), and we have integrated the safety aspect into our environmental work so it has become an integral part of the daily routines in the company. That is why we also need to have a review of the attitude among the employees with respect to for example dangerous goods, ” says Environmental Manager, Charlotte Breinholt of Junckers.

Junckers decided to join forces with FORCE Technology on safety advisory services, as the law states that you can choose to appoint an external safety adviser.

Part of the routines

“The quality of the work as an external safety adviser for a company depends to a large extent on trust, because the work includes both an advisory and a reviewing function. As an external safety adviser you will inevitably have to draw attention to one or two matters during the process. The dialogue with the company’s people in charge is therefore very important so that the safety systems can be effectively implemented and become an integral part of the company’s daily routines,” says Claus Johansen of FORCE Technology who has been appointed as external safety advisor by Junckers.

Preventative measures too

Claus Johansen has conducted the safety checks as an audit whereby Junckers’ safety procedures and systems were assessed against the current legislation. Through this process, a successful dialogue with the key people and employees of Junckers who handle dangerous goods as part of their daily routines has been obtained.

The audit is not only aimed at checking the results of the work, but it also has a long-term objective: namely to develop systems and disseminate them across the organisation.

“Part of our method is that not only do we review the procedures but while doing so we teach and inform employees about how the procedures can become more effective in order to prevent accidents. We proceed carefully and systematically and provide our customers with the necessary tools to keep the safety procedures up-to-date".

Implementation

The culmination of the work performed by the safety adviser is a mandatory annual report stating whether any non-compliance with laws, rules and regulations have been found. Non-compliance will require enhanced awareness by the company. The safety adviser also describes recommendations for improvement of the internal procedures.

According to Charlotte Breinholt is has been a success to appoint an outsider for a review of the procedures and instructions.

“Taking a fresh view. New questions. It forces us to reflect on our routines because you can always become better at what you are doing. As we have integrated the safety aspect into our environmental systems, we are in another league now," says Charlotte Breinholt.