Port of Salalah handled pandemic with exceptional results

Mazid Mustahil Akaak

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Port of Salalah took precautions to maintain the safety of its employees and efficiency of the company.

The Port managed to do this with exceptional results that can be seen as an example of how a company should respond during an unforeseen crisis like a pandemic.

According to Willem Nel, the General Manager of Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) at Port of Salalah, the company managed to adapt to the pandemic with relative ease, and that despite the expectation of a decline in volume, the company managed actually to increase its volume over the last year.

“Our first target was to protect our human resources. Only by doing that we can ensure the sustainability of the services.” In addition to the typical Covid-19 precautions, such as face masks and temperature checks, Port ensured safety and security by dividing its staff into separate labour camps. We monitored those camps to ensure the health and safety of the employees.”

“It’s like they say, ‘don’t put all of your eggs in one basket,’ we spread them out so that if there is an outbreak in one group, we can control it.” Willem stated that the company was able to adapt to the pandemic so well because the authorities ‘did not know how big the impact of (the pandemic) would be,’ and therefore, they took whatever measures they could, to ensure safety and operations. This even included using an on-site clinic with doctors specialised in Covid-19.

The greatest challenge that Port of Salalah faced regarding the application of new protocol and regulations was the education of its employees.

“Some employees didn’t know anything about Covid, and so the biggest challenge has been educating them.” These new protocols included mandatory face masks, temperature checks, routine sanitisation of equipment, social distancing, and reduced staff in the workplace. The latter of these means that many staff will be working from home and that all meetings held by the company are virtual. In some regards, these protocols have actually allowed the company to operate more efficiently than before. By eliminating the physical aspect of work, the company was able to eliminate a great deal of wasted time.

The most important factor contributing to Port of Salalah’s success at handling the pandemic has been its leadership.

“People on the ground see the commitment from executive management. If the commitment is there, then the cooperation is there, and the morale is there as well,” he said.

Willem Nel said that Port of Salalah learned to handle the crisis despite the operational challenges during the pandemic. After the situation becomes normal, the company will be able to incorporate new things to make the operations even during crises like this.