Practice

Throughout my long career as an HSE professional, I have frequently been concerned about the mandatory RI&E required under Article 5 of the Working Conditions Act. I’m mentioning the article right away for a reason—so you’ll know it’s about legislation. The Occupational Safety and Health Act sets out the basic rules for safety and health […]

Whenever a new machine is installed at work and put into operation, I’m always surprised at how quickly people seem to think they know everything about it: how it works, how to turn it on and off, and how to troubleshoot problems. You never need a manual, let alone operating instructions. Because it’s perfectly clear

Several years ago, I had a safety manager who believed that an open knife was dangerous. But he went a step further than just imposing safety knives. You know: those knives that shoot inward when you release them, causing you to constantly have to apply force and cramp your fingers because they are tremendously difficult

Let’s start at the beginning: We figured out that with gloves, shielding, a harness, a mask, safety shoes and various clothing requirements, the work is safer. I can agree that this is often not the case at all. I downright hate gloves and use them only when there is really no other way. We have

Everything you see on “Ik vertrek,” “Het Roer Om,” or whatever other moving and remodeling programs they’ve come up with: it all adds up. These programs also do show how organized the Netherlands is and how the Dutch do not let themselves be known. Despite setbacks, they persevere. They want to do business, build something

Working safely and sustainably, what exactly is that? After 30 years of standing on the sidelines, yelling for someone to put on armor and asking if the installation is locked (and if so, how?) and after creating yet another document (which is then not read), it finally dawned on me: Security is not about people.