Calculated as of October 2022, FBC (Fehmarn Belt Contractors) has worked for 2.3 million man-hours without any serious work accidents. During the entire construction project so far, there has only been one. The FBC categorizes a serious occupational accident as an incident that renders the employee unable to work for 24 hours or more after the accident.
No Injuries No Accidents
The “secret” behind the positive statistics is called NINA and is no secret at all. In fact, it is the first thing you see when you visit FBC in the temporary offices in Rødbyhavn. Here there are large roll-ups and posters with NINA’s (No Injuries No Accidents) basic rules.
The five values
NINA is based on five values and five rules. The values are: Everyone is responsible for his own safety. Everyone has a duty to contact colleagues concerning work safety. Everyone has a duty to step in if they become aware of unsafe working conditions and stop work if necessary. Everyone has a duty to positively accept feedback about their behaviour in relation to work safety – no matter what rank or position they hold. Everyone has a duty to report all safety incidents – also “close call” incidents that turned out to be lucky so that others are informed, and everyone can learn from the episodes.
The five rules
The five rules are: A risk assessment must be made of all projects, vessels or locations. A permit must be obtained to carry out high-risk work. A risk analysis must be carried out for risky non-routine work. Everyone must stay informed about risks and control measures. Everyone must be ready for the task and wear the prescribed protective equipment.
NINA since 2010
The NINA program was developed by Boskalis back in 2010. Since the program was implemented, the shipping company has experienced a significant decrease in lost working time due to accidents.
Dealing with zero error culture
In some areas, the program can be compared to the work with safety within the aviation and the healthcare system. Here, years ago, there was a pronounced “zero error culture”, where it was not accepted that mistakes were made at all. Therefore, errors or so-called “near misses” were not talked about either because they could lead to reprisals for the individual employee or employees could start excluding “snitches”. The showdown with the zero-error culture positively impacted flight safety and the number of so-called “accidental incidents” in the healthcare system, where patients got worse or even died from the treatment they were exposed to.
