Maarten Lauwerijssen
A survey in 2002 revealed that half of the accidents at Heineken's
African breweries were due to the lack (or incorrect use) of person
al protective equipment. However, improving this situation takes
more than just handing out safety glasses: you also need to draw up
rules, implement monitoring systems and raise local awareness.
GETTING THE STARS PROTECTED
'It's not enough to ensure that good-quality
personal protective equipment is available -
it's also important that the employees see the
need for it and have the discipline to wear it,'
says Maarten Lauwerijssen, a management
trainee at Heineken International Medical
Services who is responsible for developing a
system to improve the health and safety
situation in African breweries by making sure
that protective equipment is used.
Shop-floor health and safety legislation is
lacking in most African countries. The first
thing to do, therefore, was to draw up a set of
quality guidelines based on European legis
lation. These rules were then translated into
a reference document-a matrix-for the
local breweries.
'Managers at African breweries don't want
to go through all the complicated European
legislation to find the required equipment,'
he explains. 'The matrix is an easy way of
finding out what equipment should be used
and where to order it.'
As well as providing protective equipment,
it is also important to show employees
why they need to use it in their daily work.
For many employees, the brewery is a clean
and safe environment compared with the
situation outside. They do not understand the
need for the equipment and often believe
that they can do their job better without it.
It is easier to explain to employees working
on the bottling line why they need to wear
protective shoes than it is to explain how
prolonged exposure to certain noise can
affect their hearing.
Equally important is the attitude of man
agement towards protective equipment. The
project needs to spread from the top down.
As well as the employees, managers at every
level must have the discipline to follow the
instructions and use the correct equipment.
'The hierarchy has to set the right example,'
Maarten Lauwerijssen says.
The guidelines, the matrix, the training
sessions developed for personnel and all the
other information gathered in the course of
the project have been brought together on a
CD-ROM entitled 'Getting the Stars Protected',
the stars representing the brewery person
nel. The CD-ROM has become the main tool
within Heineken's African operating compa
nies for making personal protective equip
ment available and developing the attitudes
needed to ensure that people use it in their
work.
The first orders have already been placed.
The breweries in Nigeria, Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly
Zaire) have ordered equipment and more
breweries are expected to follow their lead.
As the availability and use of personal protec
tive equipment becomes more widespread,
the number of accidents due to the lack
or incorrect use of equipment is expected
to drop by 50 percent. 'Our targets are
ambitious but feasible,' says Maarten
Lauwerijssen.
Indicators
Result
Target
Accident frequency in number of accidents
per 100 fte (own employees)
Accident severity in number of absentee days
per 100 fte (own employees)
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
5.5 5.1 3.5 2.8 2.5 2.2
79 81 82 53 44 40
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