Safety, a top priority
The pillars of our QSE (Quality, Safety and Environment) department include monitoring of the quality of the entire production process and our numerous products, and safety on and around the workplace in order to guarantee the welfare of all of our employees, because a happy employee who feels secure is worth his weight in gold!
An active safety policy is extremely important for any company for several reasons. An accident at work results, next to the consequences for the persons concerned, in a mountain of paper work, in a loss of productivity or in an increase in the financial expenses.
With our well documented safety policy, Raffinerie Tirlemonoise shows that we are prepared to assume our responsibilities and that we are able to manage the risks associated with heavy industry.
Continued investments, at each site
During this past year we invested in training people in the workplaces in all our sites. Our local QSE Officers are not only given training in the area of safety, they are also responsible for quality and the environment. The various sites also participate in audits several times per year on various issues to ensure that everyone is working in a safe environment. The QSE department organizes continuously internal audits across all sites.
Safety is not only important for our Safety Manager and the various prevention officers, the entire organisation is also required to work safely each and every day.
Our objective in the long term is to ensure a well-being on the work floor for every employee and to achieve a zero-accident policy, even without unemployment.
Own emergency response teams for a safe working environment
Day by day, we work towards a safe working environment with all of our employees. But given that danger often lurks just around the corner, we must always be prepared for a possible incident. This is why we have our own emergency response teams at the sugar factories in both Wanze and Tienen/Tirlemont.
What is the emergency's response team main task?
To provide first aid. If an incident occurs, like a fire or a hazardous product leak, the emergency response team must solve this problem or try to prevent it from spreading.
For example, they ensure that the employees are evacuated, the hazard zones are secured, and if necessary, they will lead the fire brigade to the site of the incident. Naturally, our emergency response teams have the necessary emergency equipment for this task, including fire extinguishers, fire hoses, oxygen tanks and masks, etc.
Who is on the emergency response team?
Our emergency response teams are made up of motivated colleagues who have accepted this position in addition to their daily tasks. There are approximately 15 people on the Tienen team and 46 people on the Wanze team so that someone is always at the ready.
The employees are trained before they can join the emergency response team. The Tienen/Tirlemont colleagues follow an annual training programme in a specialised school, such as the PIVO firefighting school in Asse. This training programme always consists of a theory course followed by practical exercises. The Wanze colleagues follow a biennial training programme, supplemented with practical exercises held on-site throughout the year.
As you can read here, safety is of paramount importance at Raffinerie Tirlemontoise. We continue to invest in it daily so that our employees can continue to work in a safe environment.