UM Terminals recently held its first ever Safety Day, bringing together all the members of its UK-wide Safety Committee.

The day was organised by Group EHS Manager Rebecca Broughton-Lee and involved 16 colleagues in total from UM Terminals’ sites in Liverpool, Hull and Portbury.

The day, which was held at the Malmaison Liverpool, began with opening remarks about safety culture from UM Terminals’ Managing Director Vic Brodrick.

This was followed by a guest session with Peter Davidson, Chief Executive of the Tank Storage Association. Peter gave a presentation about the Buncefield fire, which saw a huge explosion rip through the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, close to the M1 motorway, 20 years ago next month.

Peter talked about the ensuing investigation and the lessons still being learnt. He also discussed the work of the TSA and the training support and materials it makes available to members such as UM Terminals.

In the afternoon, Rebecca led two sessions, the first of which focussed on Work Wallet, the cloud-based reporting system that is being introduced and which will capture in one place various information including site checks, audits, risk assessments and any issues that arise. The session gave colleagues an opportunity to brainstorm other potential uses for the system.

This was followed by a session talking about safety culture, what it means to colleagues and creating building blocks for what good looks like, associated values and how to effectively embed it across the business.

The final part of the afternoon gave colleagues the opportunity to discuss next steps and start to develop a six-month plan, with a key priority being the successful and effective roll out of Work Wallet.

Rebecca said: “I was delighted with how the day went, our first dedicated Safety Day involving all members of the Safety Committee. We meet on a quarterly basis, normally on a site-by-site basis, but bringing all the committee together on the same day was something I’d been championing for a while.

“Getting everyone together in-person for the day meant that we could bring a real strategic focus to safety culture, devising innovative and proactive ways in which we can continue to enhance and embed our approach across the business.”