Danone Control of Work

Video Transcript

My name is Fintan Kennedy. I’m the EHS manager here in Danone Macroom. Danone Macroom is an infant formula producing baby food factory located in Macroom, County Cork.

So, a Control of Work System, which is our permit work system, here in Danone Macroom, is a safety basic here on site, you know, it’s mandatory.

So, we were looking to move away from our paper-based approach to a 100% digitalized version of our Permit to Work System and to investigate, you know, all of the benefits that come with that.

Like with any new project, management of change is key. Challenging established ways of working and really bringing the benefits to your workforce is key to success.

Through the fantastic collaboration we had with VelocityEHS, we were able to create Permit to Work Systems tailored for Danone Macroom that brought real tangible impact benefits to our site here in Macroom.

Since we went live in 2020 with our digital permit to work system, we have raised, I think it’s about nine and a half thousand permits here on site, and what we’ve seen is an enhanced adherence to our mandatory permit rules. And that was created through a tailored layout and design of the permits that we require here on site, and clear approval rules for the creation and closing of permits has really, you know, improved our compliance in that regard.

Some of the benefits we’ve seen on site are greater visibility in contractors and contractors working here on site. We’ve also seen many improvements in the close of permits within required timeframes. We’ve also been in a position where we could give some of our regular contractors’ permission to raise their own permits, and this is a sign of, you know, a strongly functional safety mature organization.

Danone Macroom is committed to empowering its employees and its contractors to behave responsibly at all times.

The Permit to Work System provides great communication and a chain of command from your contract creator to your contract approval. You also have an excellent map of works that are planned on-site that can be accessed by all users, that gives very clear visibility of planned works ahead in the coming weeks and can avoid conflicts in planning. There’s also an excellent contractor portal that will prevent a non-validly inducted contractor from creating his own permit.

Danone Macroom has seen very clear environmental benefits moving away from the 100% paper approach we had with our permit to work system while, in addition to seeing greater compliance and tracking and chain of command and approval rules in our permit system.

My advice to any company considering making the switch to a digital transformation is to reach out and assess similar type industries and discover what benefits those companies have seen in their transformation journey.