1st day of the year # Care about people, Care about growth

I’ll never forget it. Every first day of the year I remember the tragedy in “Ilha Grande” – Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2009. The heavy rainfall in Ilha Grande on the night of December 31st prevented the burning of fireworks that year at Hotel Sankar in Bananal Beach. Still, that didn’t spoil the New Year′s Eve party. Gathered in the lounge, guests dined, danced, and after midnight went for a dip in the sea to celebrate the New Year. At 3:40 a.m., on January 1st, 2010, a large landslide began behind the hotel. Tons of earth and stones buried the venue, killing 31 people. Seven houses in the vicinity also disappeared in the mudslide. On the mainland, the rain made more damage. Part of Carioca Hill (Morro da Carioca), in the center of Angra dos Reis, came down. Another 22 people died. I was returning home in the first early hours of the holiday when my radio rang. One of the Directors called me saying that the President of the company, who was very engaged with HSSE issues, had asked me to go there immediately to tend to he emergency. My role would be to assist the public safety rescue teams by helping them manage the crisis because we had an operation (port) very close to the tragedy.

The mutual aid, solidarity and the experience of those who have gone through a crisis or emergency situation before are critical to respond to an emergency. The location of the tragedy was in an isolated area and the proximity to our operation (port facility) contributed to respond by using boats to carry the cranes, food, fuel, tools, rescue teams and all necessary equipment. I stayed there for almost two weeks, helping day and night. I lost 4 pounds. Yes, this skinny guy with a green shirt is me. I will never forget the people who died there, the sorrow of the relatives that we comforted and the survivors. Only people who have been involved in emergency situations know the real feeling of a moment like that.

The imbalance between social, economic and environmental matters bring issues that directly impact our lives and everyone who works with security, safety and environmental very well know the importance of dealing with this on a daily basis. That’s the reason why we are always prospecting scenarios to prevent, detect and respond to situations that could affect people and assets. These situations make me reflect day after day about our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe. In my perspective it is all about the way that we care about people and growth. Each one of us, employees, suppliers, partners and customers, community, government and society has an obligation to influence ourselves in order to build a sustainable life. We must have a GENUINE INTEREST in people in order to protect life. All of us need to “go beyond the walls” and do more for people.