It is hard to imagine a time when safety was not deemed important, when Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was not used and little was done in the way of prevention. A few decades ago, occupational health and safety was not considered as important for the vast majority of companies. Instead, incidents and emergencies were handled as they occurred, as effectively as possible given the limited technology and resources available. Today, those times have changed. This article explores the progress of health and safety in the dredging industry and QHSSE professionals, Ton van de Minkelis and Christophe Leroy share their experiences in building a proactive safety culture.

Each year, at selected conferences, the Conference Paper Committee is asked to recommend a prize winner whose paper makes a significant contribution to the literature on dredging and related fields. Since 1987, IADC has presented 42 Young Author Awards. Curious to see where they are now, we asked previous winners what impact winning the award had on them and their career.

IADC’s Safety Committee and Board of Directors awarded the very first Safety Award to a supply chain organisation active in the dredging industry to Keppel FELS. The company was praised by the committee for the results of its safety programme and commitment to safety onsite. Anchored in Keppel Offshore & Marine’s Safety Plus Programme and Singapore's National WSH Vision 2028, Keppel FELS continues to consistently improve and enhance its existing Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) management systems.

During marine transfers, it is essential to achieve a maximum level of control. With the bollard step, Jan De Nul has designed a simple solution to enhance safety during transfers of crew and visitors. This innovative idea came from the crew of the multicat DN46 and was picked up during an Operational Control meeting, where an advisory board discusses suggestions that improve the safety and efficiency of the company’s operations. ‘We stimulate all possible innovative ideas within our company’, says Quinten Schaumont, Area QHSSE advisor. ‘At all levels, at all times.’

When individual employees, teams and companies view everyday processes and situations through a continuous lens of safety, they can each contribute to making all aspects of operational processes, whether on water or land, safer. For the 2021 Safety Awards, IADC's Safety Committee received 15 submissions. Each one is assessed on five different categories; sustainability; level of impact on the industry; simplicity in use; effectiveness; and level of innovation.

Armed with degrees in both Marine Engineering and Engineering Economics as well as 35 years – and counting – of experience at the Panama Canal Authority, Ilya Espino de Marotta has blasted through the glass ceiling wearing a pink hard hat. Amongst the diverse roles she has under her belt, ranging from Marine Engineer in the shipyard to Vice President for Transit Business, Ilya has notably led the Canal’s expansion as head engineer and now oversees operations from the second highest position at the authority.

The nomination which won the IADC’s Safety Award 2019 was unveiled at IADC’s Annual General Meeting in New Delhi, India.

Each year, IADC gives a safety award to one exceptional innovation which proves it is the best in its class. This year, 14 innovations addressing challenges faced within the dredging industry have been nominated.

Crews routinely perform vessel to vessel transfers, ensuring a project continues seamlessly. But the operation is not risk free. A roundtable of IADC members shared ideas on how to improve procedures to make crew transfers safer.

By viewing routine processes and situations through a continuous lens of safety, individuals can help make operational processes on water or land safer. Eight solutions nominated for IADC’s Safety Award demonstrate the benefit of this approach.

IADC’s Young Author Award winner François De Keuleneer and co-authors Joris de Vroom and Arjan Mol discuss the Workability Tool which ensures captains of specialised vessels can make informed decisions to dredge during favourable wave conditions.

Formulated by employees of Jan De Nul Group, the solution which won the Safety Award 2017 upgraded each facet of the pipeline transportation process, including from the activities performed in storage facilities as well as while travelling to faraway project locations.

Safety is the number one priority during dredging operations and IADC’s Safety Award aims to promote awareness through innovation. Thirteen nominations are in the running to receive the 2017 Award.

One in five fatal accidents occur in construction and a high percentage of it involves a man on the ground. This article explains how companies can significantly reduce the number of potential accidents on the construction site by implementing strict safety protocols; separating pedestrians and machinery on the site; and what employees can do to maintain a safe working environment.

GeoSea, member of the DEME Group won the IADC Safety Award 2016 for its "Enhanced muster station" aboard the jack-up vessel, Neptune. The DEME Group continues to invest heavily in innovative ideas and initiatives regarding safety that includes the "CHILD5" campaign.

The IADC Safety Award was established to encourage the development of safety skills and safety awareness in the industry. The eight nominations of the IADC Safety Award 2016 highlight innovative ideas and diligence regarding safety shown by companies in the dredging industry.

The risks of mooring operations in the dredging industry cannot be overstated. Equipment, training and competence of personnel, and technology are the different factors that play a part in safe and efficient mooring work.

UXOs underwater are everywhere and present an “invisible” threat. Discovering, removing and dismantling them is risky and should always be performed by specially trained professionals.

New tools for improving safety have led to a change in attitudes and an incident and injury free (IIF) culture.

Acknowledging the risk of H2S early on allows the contractor to prepare a safe work environment that includes costs for detection systems and for training crews to be alert.

Safety awareness in the dredging industry has taken a leap forward. The efforts of the IADC are part of the new safety strategy to reduce accidents and incidents to zero.

Contractors’ safety management systems are better than ever, and if clients are willing to join in, they can benefit from these advances.

Hard lessons at a project led to a huge shift in safety awareness, where 4000 employees learnt that each person must take responsibility, not only for themselves, but also for their colleagues.

Employees lead the way in safety awareness and in finding practical tools for use “right here and right now” resulting in greater overall on-the-job safety.

The IADC Annual Safety Award: A change in values meant a change in attitude on the work floor, where each person is willing to speak up to warn colleagues for unsafe situations.

Updating the safety system was only the first step. Communicating the new procedures one-on-one to all personnel was just as important.

Losing a co-worker was a hard way to learn that safety goes beyond wearing PPE. It demands constant vigilance by every worker, from management to crew, in order to avoid potentially dangerous situations.

This year’s IADC Safety Award winner proves that thorough training, compliance with ISO and other standards, vigilance regarding quality and health, safety and environment (QHSE) results in less on-the-job downtime, fewer accidents, healthier employees, improved performance and the delivery of quality projects.

Acknowledging the maximum effort put into safety and security, while working in an extraordinarily challenging environment, Van Oord Nigeria Ltd was presented with a company award for overall achievement in QHSE (quality, health, safety and the environment).

Compliance with ISO and other safety standards is a top priority for IADC companies. In recognition of this, the IADC Board of Directors has issued its first annual Safety Award.

IADC is proud to announce nine submissions in the running to receive the 2023 Safety Award.

Safety awards for dredging companies AND supply chain organisations.

IADC is proud to announce eleven nominations in the running to receive the 2022 Safety Award.

Safety Awards for Dredging Companies AND Supply Chain organisations.

IADC is proud to announce fifteen nominations in the running to receive the 2021 Safety Awards.

Nominations now open for the 2021 IADC Safety Awards. Safety Awards for Dredging Companies AND Supply Chain organisations.

Why should dredging professionals register for an IADC Dredging Seminar? Course Leader Pieter den Ridder explains.

Safety Awards for Dredging Companies AND Supply Chain organisations. Nominations can be submitted now!

The last issue of 2019 discusses a sandybody solution, pipeline connector and remediated refinery.

During a ceremony at the IADC Annual General Meeting in New Delhi, IADC President Frank Verhoeven announced the Safety Award 2019 winner: Boskalis with its Floating Line Connecting System.

19 August 2019 - IADC is proud to announce fourteen nominations in the running to receive the Safety Award 2019. The winner will be announced on 17 October 2019. 1st nomination Safer shock-prevention monitoring box from Bender Benelux installed on all Boskalis mobile generators

To promote innovations within the realm of safety within the dredging industry, the International Association of Dredging Companies gives a Safety Award to an exemplary programme, procedure or project each year. Winner Announced at the IADC’s Annual General Meeting, the winner of the Safety Award 2018 is Van Oord’s Debris Removal Platform. Van Oord changed the existing technique of manually removing debris to an automated

There are eight nominations in the running for the Safety Award 2018!  The winner will be announced on 15 September 2018. Nomination 1 WE ARE ITA BY JAN DE NUL GROUP During t

On 15 September 2017, the IADC Board bestowed the IADC Safety Award 2017 to Jan De Nul Group which produced the nomination Transport of Pipelines Optimisation.

Dredging operations are risky business, therefore the dredging industry pays a lot of attention to safety. Launched in 2015, the IADC Safety Award is intended to encourage the development of safety skills on the job, rewarding people and companies demonstrating diligence in safety awareness in the performance of their profession. Soon to be given for the second time, the Saf

DEME picked up the prestigious IADC Safety Award at IADC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week at Cascais, Portugal. The award is given to honour companies that have shown outstanding achievement in the area of safety. The award was presented by Peter de Ridder, president of IADC to Lieven Durt, director of QHSE-S DEME and Luc Vandenbulcke, managing director of GeoSea. The company was chosen as a winner by the Safety Committee from among

The Safety Committee has chosen eight nominations for the IADC Safety Award. IADC will be announcing one nomination every Monday per week, starting from 25 July, 2016. FIRST NOMINATION The first nomination is for Jan De Nul Australia’s “Fully Automated TSHD Mooring” system. During the dredging and reclamation works of Brisbane Airport Corporation, JDN Aust

Safety video of IADC member Van Oord.

Safety video of IADC member Jan De Nul Group.

Safety video of IADC member DEME NV.

Safety video of IADC member Royal Boskalis Westminster NV.

Safety video of IADC member Van Oord.

To promote innovations within the realm of safety within the dredging industry, the International Association of Dredging Companies gives a Safety Award to an exemplary programme, procedure or project each year. Announced at the IADC’s Annual General Meeting, the winner of the Safety Award 2018 is Van Oord’s Debris Removal Platform. Van Oord changed the existing technique of manually removing debris to an automated system, reducing the risk of personal injury.

To encourage the awareness of safety within the dredging industry, the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) presents an annual award to an exemplary programme or project which advances the application of safety throughout the dredging industry’s activities.

DEME picked up the prestigious IADC Safety Award at IADC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Cascais, Portugal. The award is given to honour companies that have shown outstanding achievement in the area of safety. The award was presented by Peter de Ridder, president of IADC to Lieven Durt, director of QHSE-S DEME and Luc Vandenbulcke, managing director of GeoSea.

The webinar features safety experts who provide you insights on how safety risks such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S), unexploded ordnances (UXO) and mooring were handled on the New Suez Canal Project.