Safety Week Day 1 - Driving Positive Change in Al-Khobar

Day 1 of Safety Week is "Meet-up Monday," where Jacobs people from around the world take time to connect with new colleagues while taking a step back to view their surroundings from a different perspective.

At Jacobs, we’re serious about our approach to being a global company. In Al-Khobar in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, our global perspective to problem solving is immediately evident: as of late 2017, this fast-growing Middle East hub employed almost 800 people representing 27 nationalities. 

When it comes to safety, personal histories, experiences and cultural differences can become a barrier. In Al-Khobar, our team embraced their breadth of perspective to design and implement innovative safety initiatives and make meaningful progress .  

With nearly 100 new hires in 2017, it was important to provide a strong first impression for incoming employees. The team developed a systematic HSE  Orientation Program that included consistent leadership engagement and an ongoing training plan. Part of this introduction focused on “Stop Work Authority,” empowering all employees to intervene and stop work – with uncompromised management support – when they see an unsafe condition. 

Using electronic tools to manage and track safety engagement has also been successful. A Safety Observation Report (SOR) app enables users to record SORs by project or function and helps track engagement, providing better leading indicators and incident prevention. The tool has improved employee engagement in core HSE processes and improved employee feedback channels . 

Addressing driving safety was also key in a country where a motor vehicle incident occurs every minute and 24 people die every day in road accidents. A “Drive Safe” procedure was implemented, introducing the concept of “Drive Readiness” – an integral part of pre-drive planning and verifying physical and mental readiness. A two-tier driver training program ensures driver competence and a satellite-based position tracking system follows higher risk trips on a real-time basis. 

More than 200 client employees also reside in the building and we are partnering with them to build an unsurpassed culture of caring. Our clients are increasingly taking notice – our BeyondZero® culture of caring has fostered strong and transparent relationships across the region that continue to grow!