Driving safety forward in Estonia
Nynas is the first supplier in Estonia to carry out safety reviews at customers’ unloading sites. Indrek Tepp, Nynas Sales Manager and General Director in Estonia, explains.
Three years ago, Nynas started assessing the safety at customer unloading sites with the aid of the haulier used in Estonia – Bitutrans. The original concept was developed in the Swedish market.
“To obtain a comprehensive view of the safety at the plants where we deliver bitumen, we asked the drivers to complete a questionnaire,” says Indrek Tepp.
The questionnaire revealed that improvements could be facilitated by conducting safety reviews on site. The final structure of these safety reviews was based on both the questionnaires and the discussions that also took place with customer representatives.
“Nynas team in Estonia would like to give credit to the first contractors who were very supportive in working together with us on safety improvements through this kind of programme. These are Kaarel Soolo from TREF Nord AS, Priit Kurgpõld from TREV-2 Grupp AS, Tõnu Kätt from Tallinna Teed AS and Mart Vardja from YIT Infra Eesti AS.”
- Indrek Tepp
Nynas strong focus on safety and supporting its customers in creating a safer working environment is one of the reasons why the company was the first bitumen supplier to introduce this type of safety reviews together with their haulier and their customers.
“We also felt that there were some simple and quick improvements to be made by increasing the customers’ awareness of what can be done in their system and discussing the benefits of doing them,” continues Indrek Tepp. “Some of the areas highlighted, such as safety showers, properly marked unloading areas and safety introductions on site for drivers, were considered to be very important ones.”
And the ultimate goal?
“To increase the customers’ focus on safety, to have safer unloading of bitumen at customer sites and to eliminate any quality problems that might occur in connection with unsafe unloading. It is also important to make customers understand that a safer working environment contributes to efficiency.”
The hope now is that regular safety reviews will contribute to staff at the asphalt plants thinking and acting safely every day, and in all situations, when it comes to issues relating to the handling of bitumen.
“In most cases, small improvements bring big results. Safety must always come first,” concludes Indrek Tepp.
