APM Terminals Algeciras turns its Safety Day into a virtual forum for ideas on "Preventive Culture"

The company invites employees, stevedores, contractors and carriers to contribute to the culture of safety in an edition marked by the prevention measures against Covid-19.

Algeciras, Spain – APM Terminals Algeciras remains committed to maintaining the safety of those who work in the largest container terminal in Spain. Despite current circumstances, its traditional Safety Day was maintained and was observed on 15th September in a special way due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Converted into a virtual forum for idea-sharing with the main theme being “Preventive Culture”, the event was an open invitation to all participants – employees, stevedores, contractors and transporters, gathered by videoconference – to continue contributing ideas, collaborate and work as a team to take terminal’s security to the next level.

“For us at APM Terminals Algeciras it was very important to have a dedicated day to discuss prevention issues and to continue fostering the preventive culture, which is in the DNA of our company. It is also something that all of us - the 4 000 people who enter the terminal every day - need to continuously have in mind, with all our different tasks and our interdependencies”, shared Alberto Rodríguez Sánchez, HSSE Director at APM Terminals Algeciras.

The programme of Safety Day 2020 needed to comply with measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For this reason, all invited guests joined virtually, all staff received homologated face masks and all “Gemba walks” were conducted in small groups. A “Gemba walk” is one of the pillars of the Lean methodology implemented in the terminal, which invites its participants to go to the “place where things happen” (“gemba” in Japanese). Its main objective is to observe the processes and interact with those involved in it to understand the problems that arise and identify opportunities for improvement in a continuous and sustainable way.

Safety Day is a global initiative across A.P. Moller-Maersk entities, which has been observed for the fourteenth time in Algeciras. Its objective is to promote a culture of safety among all staff and highlight the efforts made towards achieving safe operations in the industrial environment of port logistics. These efforts are helping APM Terminals Algeciras to continue to maintain very low accident rates.