By Staff Writer
Vivo Energy, the leading pan-African distributor and retailer of Shell and Engen-branded fuels and lubricants, has held its annual Safety Day across the whole company, reinforcing the importance of Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) at Vivo Energy.
Safety Day is an opportunity for all employees and contractors at Vivo Energy to refocus on the importance of HSSE. The theme of this year’s event: “Safety: Why it matters to me”, invited employees, contractors and partners to express why safety mattered to them, focusing on personal testimonials on why they felt safety was important. In addition to the testimonials, Safety Day activity included townhall meetings, safety education courses, on-site safety inspections and team quizzes. The company’s ultimate ambition is to achieve a world-class safety culture, where HSSE is fully integrated into the ways of working for all parties at Vivo Energy.
In Uganda, Vivo Energy staff visited retail sites to engage with the retail teams on the importance of safety to their operations and personal lives, on product cross overs and contamination and security incidents. The staff teams carried out a detailed Health, Safety, Security and Environment inspection of their Shell fuel stations to gauge effectiveness and implementation of the company’s established safety regulations and practices among its customer facing personnel at the stations.
The Country Leadership Team visited its Contractor and Haulier sites to hold staff meetings and carry out safety inspections; in an extension of the Safety Week activities.
During the Safety Day Staff Town Hall held at Vivo Energy Uganda offices, Managing Director Gilbert Assi commended all staff and contractors for the stellar HSSE track record maintained by the Uganda operating unit in 2019.
“Safety Day this year urges us to stop and reflect on why safety is important to us. When we personalise safety, its importance is brought into clear perspective. Safety, both personal and at your work place and homes cannot be overemphasised. We owe it to ourselves, our families, our colleagues at work, our customers and to everyone. I urge you to all continue to espouse our safety practices now more than ever in your daily routine,’ said Assi.
Umeme Managing Director Selestino Babungi who attended the celebrations as the Chief Guest, lauded Vivo Energy Uganda for championing occupational health and safety at the workplace. He urged the triple ISO certified company to share best practices on safety with all stakeholders in order to create safer work environments.
Grant Bairstow, Head of HSSE for the Vivo Energy Group said: “Safety is an integral and essential part of everything we do at Vivo Energy and remains an absolute priority across the business for our staff and contractors. Whilst safety is embedded across the company our annual Safety Day provides a moment for all our teams to stop; reflect on why safety matters to them; and ensure we are doing everything we can to achieve our aim of ‘Goal Zero’ – no harm to people and minimising our impact on the environment.”
Bairstow concluded: “Vivo Energy has a very strong safety record, but we can always do more and we must never become complacent. We have successfully adopted a proactive culture of safety and are proud of our strong Total Recordable Case Frequency of 0.19 incidents per million exposure hours in 2018. We continue to work hard to achieve our HSSE goals in order to make continued progress to become Africa’s most respected energy business.”