Intending to strengthen safety standards in the organization and with its partners, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation shared its safety culture and BiyaHero (Road Safety) program at the recent virtual Logistics Summit of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country, last Feb 11, 2021.
CCBPI is a partner of Pilipinas Shell under Shell Fleet Solutions, which provides businesses with products and services like fuel discounts, ferry bookings, and the streamlining of toll payments—all of which contribute to efficient and more convenient fleet management.
“We’re not only providing the best quality fuel products and services, but we also share how we deliver these products in a safe and secure way,” says Shell Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Manager Lily Keh-Camero of her organization’s safety culture.
“We have always placed great value on our partnership with Shell, because CCBPI’s road safety protocols are integral to how we do business,” says CCBPI Logistics Director Ruth Genota. “Every Coca-Cola bottle that reaches our consumers is backed by the implicit promise that it was manufactured, handled, and delivered according to the strictest safety standards.”
Coca-Cola operates one of the largest logistics networks in the Philippines, with a fleet of almost 3,000 trucks and more than 2,000 sales service vehicles. Managing a vast and complex supply chain that spans the entire country, however, becomes a bigger challenge on the rough roads of the Philippines.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) reported that some 32,000 vehicular road accidents occurred in Metro Manila from January to August 2020; an earlier report noted that truck accidents accounted for almost 15% of all road accidents in 2019.
Pilipinas Shell works to promote the best safety practices across a wide range of industries. Setting the standard that other companies can follow is not just for business efficiency, but also to elevate the quality of transportation for its target customers. During the Logistics Summit, which was attended by 100 employees of CCBPI, Pilipinas Shell Country Security Manager Oliver Ortega gave focus on Shell’s HSSE culture and shared how Shell was able to reach the level the company is in right now in terms of safety mindset.
Another pillar of the program is the HSSE Goal Zero journey, which aims to raise safety standards across the entire organization by focusing on three high-risk areas: personal, process, and transport safety. Through training and caring for the people and leaders included in the program, a strong safety culture can be complemented by a competent workforce.
BiyaHero, a fun play on the phrase “Be A Hero,” is Pilipinas Shell’s road safety program that was launched in 2019. It pushes for road safety best practices by advocating initiatives and partnerships, stemming from the insight that safety is a shared responsibility among everyone on the road. Drivers, riders, mechanics, even pedestrians all have a part in ensuring that the road is safer to travel on.
CCBPI’s Ruth Genota added, “Road safety protocols demand a continuous journey of improvement. At Coca-Cola—given our goal to deliver quality products across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao—we have to make sure that the Logistics Team are champions of road safety. Through summits like this, we get to learn from industry partners and share best practices, working together to better navigate the country’s roads and chart safer journeys even in service.”
Keh-Camero explained that road transport risk is one of the organization’s operational risks “that we focused on as we built COVID-19 safety protocols to bounce back. We feel good in sharing our safety programs and initiatives, as these have not only improved our safety culture as Shell but they also form a mindset that saves lives. If this can be replicated through platforms like CCBPI’s Logistics Summit, just imagine how many more corporate safety culture and policies can be improved, and ultimately how many more lives we save.”