Posted on September 22, 2025
Rotterdam, the Netherlands – Van Oord is proud to announce that it has been awarded the IADC Safety Award 2025 during the Annual General Meeting of the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) in Stockholm, Sweden. The award recognises Van Oord’s commitment to safety and innovation in the dredging industry, specifically for its newly designed gasket that significantly reduces the risk of injury during pipe assembly.
When connecting the flanges of steel reclamation pipes, a paper gasket is placed in between to seal the gap. When using traditional gaskets, workers have to hold the gaskets in place during the sealing process, creating a potential risk of finger injuries. With Van Oord’s redesign of the gaskets to add ‘ears’, personnel are now able to keep their fingers further away from the flanges, therefore significantly reducing the risk of injuries while connecting reclamation pipes.
For each 12-metre section of reclamation pipe, a gasket must be placed. With kilometres of reclamation pipes being connected annually by the global dredging industry, this small change in design can have a huge impact in reducing the risk for personnel involved in this activity. With this solution, the gaskets themselves remain the same and only a small change in design was needed.
‘Ensuring the safety of workers when assembling reclamation pipes is a challenge all too well known among IADC members. This solution may sound simple at first, but the impact is significant. With up to kilometres of pipes requiring assembly every day on projects across the globe, elegant solutions like the Van Oord gasket design can really make a difference. With this design, Van Oord hope that they and other companies can avoid cases of serious injury and at the same time cut down on lost work time.’
René Kolman, Secretary General of IADC
Simple and cost effective
Although the solution may be simple, its impact is considerable. The new design substantially reduces the risk of possible finger injuries, which can result in lost work time and even permanent disability. Another strength of this innovation is that the new gasket design can be easily implemented in a cost-effective manner by other dredging companies, improving safety for reclamation workers around the world.
‘We are proud to share our gasket redesign with the dredging industry. It is a simple, cost-effective solution that we hope will have a big impact. This innovation is a great example of the importance of creating a culture of safety. By empowering our colleagues to speak up and voice their concerns, and listening to their ideas for improvement, we can all benefit.’
Martin Smouter, Director Dredging & Infra at Van Oord
