4/2009 - Dachser GmbH und Co. KG

Safety first
Dangerous goods and hazardous substances
are in safe hands at Dachser: the safety of
people, goods and the environment are at the
focus of worldwide logistics solutions.
>> At Dachser, every stored consignment
is treated like a precious commodity.
That’s easy to see from a look inside the logistics
provider’s warehouses. Pallet spaces
and high shelves form neat rows that look as
though they have been aligned with a ruler.
Systematically classified, goods are given the
green light here for dispatch around the
world on all modes of transport.
Precision and good organization are top priorities
in any warehouse, but at Dachser
Ulrich Püllen,
Dachser’s central dangerous
goods safety adviser
there’s a third one: safety. “This only becomes
apparent at second glance,” says Ulrich
Püllen, central dangerous goods safety adviser
at Dachser. “Our main concern is to eliminate
dangers and minimize risks.” This
starts with the sealing of storage areas and
doesn’t stop at gas detectors.
As a certified specialist in the Europe-wide
transport and storage of dangerous goods
and hazardous substances, Dachser has built
up over 20 years of outstanding competence
in this field. And that’s not all. With Dachser
Chem-Logistics, the logistics company has
also developed a major industry solution
specifically tailored to the requirements of
the chemical industry. Dachser meanwhile
transports 1.5 million consignments annually
for customers that include major chemicals
groups.
These can rest assured that at Dachser their
goods are in the best possible hands. Dachser’s
dangerous goods warehouse in Pilisvörösvár
>>
So far we have
trained and qualified
530 people who are
responsible for the handling
of dangerous goods Ulrich Püllen
near the Hungarian capital of Budapest, for
example, meets the strict provisions of the
Seveso II Directive. This makes it an important
interface for chemical transports in central
and eastern Europe. “Safety is one of our
key arguments,” Püllen points out. “More
than 135 regionally responsible dangerous
goods safety advisers in the branches monitor
compliance with national and international
regulations as well as with Dachser’s in-house
dangerous goods guidelines.”
Competence: Dangerous goods
The Dachser management established this
binding uniform code of safety in 1988. Since
then, it is regularly updated in consultation
with the experts. “So far we have trained and
qualified 530 people who are responsible for
the handling of dangerous goods,” Püllen
says. “Over and above the legally stipulated
continuing training courses, more than 6,000
members of staff receive in-house and external
dangerous goods coaching every year.”
To ensure it maintains this high standard of
quality and safety in the handling of dangerous
goods, Dachser undergoes regular audits
in accordance with the SQAS questionnaire
developed by the European Chemical Industry
Council, “Cefic”. The independent assessors
commissioned by Dachser to perform
these audits are accredited by Cefic and are
therefore certified experts in the field.
The abbreviation SQAS (Safety and Quality
Assessment System) stands for a systematic
approach focusing on occupational health
and safety, quality, innovation and environmental
management, in addition to monitoring
in-house guidelines for safe transport.
“These close-meshed issues are not managed
at Dachser by different departments; they
form an organizational unit within our
‘Network Management Organization’ division,”
says Jens Müller, division manager at
Dachser in Kempten. All this has paid off:
in the SQAS assessments, Dachser achieves
positive scores of over 90% – and increasingly
even nearly 100% – significantly above the
standard. “This is very important for us,”
Püllen explains. “The chemical industry
wants to know what happens to its pro -
ducts – not only in Germany, but internationally
as well.” T. Schlosser
DACHSER magazine 13