Everything Starts with Safety, I Need a Minute

Sysadvance North America was formed in the late summer of 2022 with the goal of achieving a larger presence in the Americas with Sysadvance’s gas upgrading equipment. Sysadvance has been successful in Europe for over two decades with a track record of successful projects; delivering what they promise. The Americas market quickly saw that there was an advantage to the Sysadvance PSA gas upgrade technology and they began to gain traction.

Somewhere in the growth plan of the company was the development of a safety program; but building a sales team, a project management team, developing a domestic supply chain, finding qualified technical service personnel was consuming management’s time.

In early 2024, the company recognized that over the next 24 months, their field support personnel would be exposed to over forty-six hundred exposure hours of safety liability without a formal safety program in place. A plan was needed.

The overall guidelines for the safety program was built on three principles; a focus on value, start where the company sits today, and to create forward progress following a Kaizen model using iterative feedback for improvement.

Taking the lead from the aviation industry, which originated the modeled program in 2006, the four Pillars of Safety are 1) Strong Management Leadership, 2) Engagement where Safety transcends through the entire organization, 3) Work Procedures that are aligned with a safety culture, and 4) Training and Awareness across the organization.

Leadership

Starting with the establishment of a safety committee, leadership fosters a culture where the entire team is empowered for safety. Leadership supports regular safety training and audits, safety interventions, goal setting, and coaching.

Engagement

Engagement connects the team to the program and supports continuous improvement and growth. Through the company’s wide sharing of safety information and soliciting company-wide participation, valuable ideas are brought into the continuous improvement process of the safety program.

Procedure

Procedures establish standards and boundaries for the work that is performed in the field. By blending in a safety orientation to the work instructions, confidence that the work will be performed in a safe manner is enhanced. Procedures also provide methods for more independence in the field giving personnel the opportunity for organizational growth and improvement.

Training and Awareness

Training complements work instructions and procedures by connecting the safe execution of work with the understanding of risks.

The Safety program has been rolled out with initial training as new staff is oriented to their positions. Regular safety training is conducted in the field and the home office and tracking systems are in place.

To learn more, read our Safety Magazine.