European Awards for Dutch Good Safety and Health Practices
On 27th of April 2009, the winners of the European Good Practice Competition 2008/2009 were announced during the congress ‘Safety and Health in Europe in the 21st Century’ in Prague. From the EU member states, 47 good practices were nominated for the European Good Practice Awards. Of these 47 entries, 8 awards were presented. Exceptionally, these included both Dutch nominations.
These are:
- The Dutch entry from Corus Tubes B.V. in Maastricht with ‘Correct risk assessment’;
- The Dutch entry from TU Delft with 'The safety report as a method for assessing the risks of experimental research’.
The European Good Practice Award was presented to the Dutch winners by Mr Vladimir Spidla (European Commissioner of Employment and Social Affairs), Mr Jukka Takala (Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work) and Mr Petr Simerka (State Secretary of Social Affairs Czech Republic).
TU Delft: Dick Hoeneveld
Corus Tubes BV: Willie van Loo, Hans Heuvelmans and Jos Bongaerts
More information about the Good Practice Winners >>
Audiovisuals Good Practice Winners>>
Good Practices Risk Assessment 2008-2009>>
Press release: Netherlands wins two European Awards for Safety and Health at work.
Prague, 27 April 2009
A simple but effective way of preventing injuries in the factory plus an excellent source approach to experiments at the university. These were the formulas with which two Dutch entries won a European Good Practice Award in Prague today. The inventers of these Good Practices are Corus Tubes BV and TU Delft.
Along with the six other winners from Europe, the two Dutch winners accepted their Awards during the European congress ‘Safety and Health in Europe in the 21st century’ in Prague. The presentation is part of the two year European campaign ‘A healthy workplace’ aimed at promoting an integrated approach to risk assessment. The winners have shown that risk assessment does not by definition have to be complicated, time-consuming or expensive.
Corus Tubes BV
Corus Tubes Maastricht produces and sells a wide assortment of pipes made of different types of steel in a large range of diameters, wall thicknesses and forms. Particularly in the factory halls where overhead cranes transport bundles of pipes, errors could cause serious injury. By introducing risk cards for each employee, Corus is striving to reduce the risk of accidents to a minimum. The card contains a description of the possible problem and what an employee can do to minimise and solve the safety risk: first think, then act. The jury, which had already awarded the company the national Good Practice award, decided: “It is a solution that is brilliant in its simplicity and very effective. This Good Practice is dynamic and contains all the elements of an RI&E: identify, evaluate and prevent (potential) risks. This solution shows that a good approach can be simple, inexpensive and yet effective.”
TU Delft
Researchers from TU Delft regularly experiment with different substances. This can create a potentially hazardous situation. In order to avoid this, researchers study the properties of a substance in advance. These are described in the safety leaflet which is always included in the packaging. However, it has become apparent that researchers sometimes fail to read them. For this reason, everyone is required to write a safety report. On a special website, the researcher is required to answer a number of questions. Will he be working with hazardous substances? What are the properties of the substances with which he will be working? The system asks the researcher to think about the risks and how he can limit them. The web application gives recommendations and tips, but the researchers have to think up the solution themselves. According to the Dutch jury, which had previously nominated this Good Practice for the European competition, TU Delft has successfully implemented a source approach to risks in a world where risks are not always easy to recognise. There is even an assessment of the possible risks before the source. The jury also took into account the fact that students are involved in the safety reporting as well as staff. This is a successful approach which can be widely applied in other universities and Research & Development departments in companies in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.
The Good Practice Award is an initiative of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Note for the editors
For specific information arising from this press release, please call Ms M. van Grinsven from Actorion on +31 (0)26-443 82 87.
For general information please contact the Netherlands Focal Point for Safety and Health at Work +31 (0) 23-554 94 71.
Activities in 2008-2009
- Homepage
- Inspiration Session on May 27, at the invitation
- Formal Launch of European and Dutch Campaign A healthy workplace, 13 June 2008
- Benelux Brussels conference on June 25 2008
- Good Practice Competition 2008
- European Week Conference 20 October 2008
- Round Table Meeting European Week 2007 MSD, 23 October 2008
- European Awards for Dutch Good Safety and Health Practices
Information material
