Van Oord’s innovative gasket design wins IADC Safety Award 2025

Van Oord recently won the IADC Safety Award 2025 during the Annual General Meeting of the International Association of Dredging Companies in Stockholm, Sweden.

The award recognizes 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.

“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 kilometers of pipes requiring assembly every day on projects across the globe, elegant solutions like the Van Oord gasket design can really make a difference,” said René Kolman, Secretary General of IADC.

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.

“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.

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.