Why safety must be top of mind in every phase of water and infrastructure projects

A project or asset in the water and infrastructure sector goes through a number of phases in its life cycle from design to demolition. The topic of safety is not always top of mind in all these phases. A shame, according to the safety experts at INNOCY. Because by taking safety into account at an early stage, you can avoid having to apply sticking plasters in the construction or maintenance phase.

A good example of a project where safety is indeed top of mind is the widening of the A20. "From INNOCY we are involved in the design phase," says Midas Luijer, safety expert at INNOCY. "Our job is to think with safety glasses on about the choices made in the design and what impact that has on later phases. But also, is the choice safely maintainable and safe for the (road) user and the environment? By thinking about safety at the earliest possible stage, the impact you can make is much greater. Subsequently, we are also the party who checks with our boots in the mud during the implementation phase to make sure that labor and construction safety is properly arranged and the safety agreements made are observed." 

Labor Inspectorate 

Another example where INNOCY's safety expertise is deployed is in water safety assignments. "In the context of the dyke reinforcement task, we advise water boards on how they can best fulfill the legal responsibilities they have," Midas explains. "The Occupational Health and Safety Act describes very clearly what you have to set up as a principal. That includes the H&S plan with all the safety risks of the project, but also the BTO choices you make (architectural, technical and organizational choices, ed.) and have to justify if they have an impact on health and safety. Suppose an incident happens and you haven't properly accounted for a certain design choice, that will be considered a shortcoming and you, as the client, can be caught off guard by the Dutch Labour Inspectorate. On the one hand, we look at what is required, but on the other hand we also work to increase the safety culture in project teams, are keen on signals and dare to ask questions."

Maintenance phase

INNOCY, as mentioned, can provide safety expertise within all phases of an asset or project, and in that capacity is also very much at home at the Maeslantkering. "Of course, the storm surge barrier was built some time ago, but it must be maintained in a proper and safe manner," says Oscar Ewaart, safety expert at INNOCY. "For this purpose, a regular house contractor was appointed for a certain period of time to perform all regular maintenance work and inspections. We drew up the H&S plan for the client. In a H&S plan you will find information about risks and hazards, measures, responsibilities, coordination and consultation, emergency situations and supervision and control in order to guarantee the safety and health of employees and third parties involved in a project. On behalf of the client, Oscar also conducts safety observations to ensure that the agreements as laid down in the H&S plan are also observed. If not, we speak to the employee about it, make a report of it and start an improvement process together with the contractor."

Integral safety

In many projects, INNOCY takes on the role of integral safety expert. "We consider integral safety in projects in infra, on water, but also for rail," says Midas. "This is not only about safety in planning and execution, but also about thinking along in contract requirements, drafting management measures and safety for the immediate environment." Oscar adds: "And upon completion, we then provide an up-to-date H&S file. Think of the H&S file as a reminder of an object that includes safety provisions that have an impact on a safe way of working and in which the residual risks are also well communicated, so that they can be taken into account in future (maintenance) work."