In September, Damen’s production and repair facilities in Vlissingen-Oost introduced a Covid-19 protocol. This document describes how the people who work there can minimise the risk of infection with the coronavirus.

Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen and Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding have jointly signed the protocol. After all, employees of both companies work on the extensive site at East, say Henk Jan Nieboer and Arnold van Sluijs, the HSE Coordinators of DSV and DSNS.

“Together we have one site, one entrance gate and also one identity,” says Henk Jan. “The Antarctic Supply & Research Vessel, for example, has people from both DSNS and DSV working on it.”

The Covid-19 protocol will be in effect until further notice and is based on the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment guidelines followed by the government. The protocol was also necessary because there are many international contacts coming and going to Vlissingen-Oost. This includes customers from abroad, subcontracting companies and colleagues from Damen’s yard in Galati, Romania.

The HSE coordinators say that, fortunately, and as far as is known, no one at Vlissingen-Oost has been infected.

 

“Together we have one site, one entrance gate and also one identity"

Since the outbreak in March, both DSV and DSNS had already taken numerous measures to enable safe working practices, and all these have now been included in the protocol. Henk Jan: “Of course we did this primarily for our own people, but we saw that our customers and subcontractors also needed a protocol.”

In addition to the usual measures, such as creating distance through signage, floor markings and stickers, ordering mouth masks and hand gel, and extra cleaning of handrails and door handles, we try to limit the contact between ship crews, shipyard personnel, subcontractors, transporters and couriers in East as much as possible, say Henk Jan and Arnold. Our own employees have received a toolbox with targeted information material and people are screened at the gate. They must report whether they have travelled from a high-risk area, have been in contact with the virus or have any symptoms.

Arnold: “We have also added a Covid awareness sheet to the HSE instructions for new employees.” Henk Jan adds: “When it gets busier on the site, we will work with shifts in the canteens so that it doesn’t get too crowded.”

The DSNS head office announced a lockdown shortly after the outbreak; a lot of people were instructed to work from home and, according to Arnold, different departments still work with a home/office work schedule to avoid too many people working at in the office at any one time. “One-way systems have been set up in some departments and we have fitted brackets on a number of door handles so that you can open doors with your forearm instead of using your hand.”

According to the HSE coordinators, the protocol that is now in place at Vlissingen-Oost is primarily intended to give employees and customers the confidence that the company is doing everything it can to keep Covid-19 outside the gates. “The Romanians working on the icebreaker and in Assembly Hall 1, for example, were tested before leaving their country, and went into quarantine for ten days after arriving in Vlissingen. And then they were tested again for Covid-19 a few days before they actually started working,” says Arnold.

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