“Success inside means success outside.”

At Van Loon Group, Caring for People is central: a culture underpinned by safety, quality, commitment and care for one another. At the Denekamp site, various disciplines work together daily to create an environment where colleagues can work safely, feel heard and develop. SHE & TD Specialist Marcel Veelders, QA Manager Wipkje Dijkman, HR Manager Derkjan Marsman and Production Manager Jeroen Spanjer explain how they shape this Safety & Quality culture.

For Jeroen, ‘Caring for People’ is about creating an environment where everyone feels free to express their opinion and colleagues can work together respectfully. From an SHE perspective, Marcel emphasises that employees must be able to carry out their work safely and that risks are taken seriously. HR Manager Derkjan adds that sustainable employability, well-being and appreciation are important, including room for growth: last year, more than ten colleagues were promoted. Within QA too, caring for people is about clear instructions and a safe culture where people feel confident to report deviations. ‘This is essential for food safety,’ says Wipkje.

A strong Safety & Quality (S&Q) culture is essential. Jeroen sums it up succinctly: “Winning on the inside means winning on the outside.” A well-organised internal environment reflects positively on customers and helps prevent incidents. Derkjan emphasises that a strong culture leads to sustainable employability, awareness and improved well-being.

At the Denekamp site, concrete initiatives are being implemented to drive continuous improvement. Examples include:

• Safety & Quality Walks and regular meetings that always begin with safety and quality.
• ‘On our board’: a visible and clear board explaining KPIs, projects and team contributions, so that everyone knows where they can make an impact.
• A map of incidents showing at a glance where accidents occurred. The aim? To raise awareness and prevent recurrence!

Exemplary behaviour from managers plays a key role in this. Addressing people – both as a manager and amongst colleagues – is essential to ensuring safety.

According to Jeroen, a core group of employees is crucial for building a culture. He is working towards a permanent workforce of 80%, so that commitment, knowledge and stability can continue to grow.
Within Denekamp, there is scope to report mistakes and learn from them. Major deviations are taken seriously – production lines are shut down if necessary – but without a culture of blame. Jeroen: ‘Make a big deal of it, so that people realise the seriousness of the situation. It would be great if employees themselves became even more assertive in taking responsibility: from shutting down a production line to addressing colleagues about their behaviour. ‘

A strong S&Q culture does not develop in silos. QA, SHE, HR and TD work closely together through daily meetings, S&Q walks and good coordination within the MT. According to the team, short lines of communication, open dialogue, engagement and recognition are genuine success factors. This fosters trust – the foundation of a mature safety culture. And the starting point is not to look for culprits, but primarily to examine how recurrence can be prevented.

There are challenges too. QA instructions are sometimes too complex; that is why theoretical and practical training courses are used. Furthermore, cultural change requires persistence and repetition, and a recurring dilemma is the tension between rules and practical reality. But that does not prevent us from having clear, ambitious goals for the coming years, such as:

• Ensuring food safety, without recalls or major incidents, and encouraging staff to report issues themselves via Zenya.
• An absolute ‘Road to zero harm’ and the further development of self-managing teams.
• A more accessible reporting system for everyone and faster response times in Zenya.
• More permanent staff to foster engagement and a sense of ownership.
• Last but not least; a working environment where trust and enjoyment are central.