“Security” is increasingly valued by logistics operators in Portugal
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They are seen as the engine of an economy. They move, handle, store and distribute thousands of tons of goods daily. Among all the finished products, the goods offered, the goods offered at the right time, to the activity, the exact products and the best conditions of its customers, the other exact products and the best conditions of its customers, the other distinct products in the best conditions of its customers, the other distinct products in the best conditions of their customers, the other distinct products in the best conditions of their customers. They treat the goods as their own and, between the day-to-day urgency and the typology of the products, the safety of their operations and of their people is an increasingly valued aspect. Security Magazine got to know the reality of five of the biggest operators present in the national market in terms of security.
“The security area is of central importance in Rangel’s strategy”, begins by saying Filipe de Almeida, corporate security and loss prevention manager at Rangel Logistics Solutions. In 2015, the company created a department dedicated to corporate and transversal management in the areas of security and loss prevention. “Destination from the date of security”, recalls the official, “there has been a background work, then security, as a fundamental value and a business of personal value for Rangel”. The company views security and protection measures as “a strategic investment”, which have “a clear return”. This is because it directly reflects on the reduction of species and damage and on the improvement of the service provided, as well as the increase in operational efficiency. As for the concern, in the range given to the monitoring of operations carried out in large transport and maintenance operations, “in order to identify, preventively, adjustments with potential risk and to develop and implement, in a timely manner, mitigating measures for them”, says Filipe de Almeida.
“We are constantly promoting the awareness of our employees on issues of commitment, safety, hygiene and health at work, environment and food safety”, highlights Pedro Palmeiro, Human Resources Manager of the Luís Simões group. In this sense, the company still seeks to “involve its skills and motivation towards the business objectives. As we emphasize, “we seek to create, every day, safe working environments, through behavioral behaviors, on the part of all those involved in our work processes”.
Security is also highly valued at Logifrio. As Victor Figueiredo, CEO of the company, comments, “security, in its broadest sense, is of central importance for Logifrio”. In this sense, “from food safety, hence our IFS Logistics and BRC Storage and Distribution certifications, to occupational safety, including the safety of facilities and goods”, are taken into account. The official highlights that it is “fundamental to ensure that this possible activity takes place without incident, in a harmonious way, with the least physical demand and with permanent control over all the movements of products and the people who make them”.
It is important to mention the importance that safety at work assumes for logistics operators, in an activity of high intensity and demand. At STEF, the European temperature operator, in the last two years, at work “has maintained increasing safety”, says Magda Perta controlled. As he points out, STEF Portugal decided, in the second half of 2020, “to create an internal OSH department”, and the new area “helped to define and improve the strategy and policy for the company’s safety culture”. Like management, this is an absolute priority in order to minimize accident risks and provide workers with better working conditions.” This time, between 2020 and 2022, STEF Portugal invested one million euros in the occupational safety department, which functionally reports to the highest level of the structure. The investment includes improving infrastructure and working conditions, as well as specific training in the area. Next year, for example, the company will help to highlight the beginning of tests with drones that can help minimize and prevent risks in moving loads and working at heights.
At Logista too, safety “assumes a leading role”. According to Sérgio Gonçalves, security and protection manager at Logista and security director at Logista Pharma, the group encompasses several companies from different sectors, “all of which handle high-value products, which means that we have to guarantee the safety of people and goods, within the premises and during transport”.
In addition, he says, “when existing in safety conditions, there is also less exposure to risk”. Also with regard to safety at work, the person in charge highlights that there is a very strong focus on ensuring that working conditions are the best”, being an ISO 45001 certified company. for that reason, we try our efforts daily, to improve as our virtues and we are not that we are a reference group of a whole”. In this, the group invests safely in PPE, maintenance of work equipment, maintenance of systems systems, maintenance and installation, licenses and training, among others. In this fiscal year, the group has already renewed and expanded part of the security systems at the headquarters and the central, as well as the security systems of the dedicated fleet.
safety culture
Building and maintaining a safety culture is essential within an organization. Vitor Figueiredo, responsible for Logifrio, explains that “an organization can only implement a true culture, be it safety, or otherwise thematic, if employees believe in this culture and feel it as their own”. As he adds, “culture is something that you build, take root and spread. More than something that is written in the form of a procedure or obligation, it is something that has to make sense, be true and consistent”.
As Pedro Palmeiro, from Luís Simões, points out, “only with the involvement and accountability of all employees can a true safety culture be implemented”. This culture “begins with each one of us, who must then, each one in the performance of his/her role, assume the main responsibility for his/her own safety, and that of everyone else”.
Filipe de Almeida points out that at Rangel “there must be a holistic security perspective of the entire operation of the organization, with an integral view of all processes, so as to be able not only to develop structural actions, but also to develop structural measures”. This is how the company manages to ensure “the protection of people and goods at all stages of the logistics chain”. It is not surprising that the company has even adopted the motto “We are all Rangel, We are all Security”. The company recently began a process of naming “Security Ambassadors” across all its platforms and operations. “They are the ones who spread the safety principles to their team members and carry out a proximity compliance so that the rules are not an exception, but part of the natural way of acting of all teams.”
At STEF Portugal, investments in safety do not stop. At the end of last year, it started with a pilot, called “The culture of change”, which has as a company the objective of “the strategic change of change, implementing as suggestions from workers in order to seek the management of behavioral mentalities”, highlights Magda Peralta. As she adds, “safety belongs to everyone and for everyone” and this has been the company’s motto in recent years. “The focus is not on reinforcing the safety of the safety culture, which is important to promote a good relationship and work with the representatives of (…)”.
For Sérgio Gonçalves, responsible for Logista’s security, culture is achieved through “a lot of pedagogy, a lot of patience, a lot of work, a lot of dedication and, above all, out of “love for the cause””. As he points out, you have to really like this area to implement a safety culture, because this process can be long, and to have an excellent team helping us to do this daily work”.
Looking at these realities, the importance of security within national logistics operators becomes evident, increasingly as a strategic area within organizations.
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