My name is Jeroen Jacobse, and I work as a Senior Consultant External Safety within the Fire & External Safety advisory unit at Bilfinger. At the beginning of this year, I celebrated my 12.5-year work anniversary. I started out as a broadly deployable safety consultant, working on projects in the field of process, occupational, and external safety. Over the years, I discovered that I wanted to specialise further. When the consulting team within Bilfinger was reorganized into advisory units per discipline, it came at exactly the right time. Since then, I have focused entirely on external safety and have progressed to become a senior member of our team.

From risk analysis to safety reports

Our work revolves around one question: how do we ensure that the risks posed by a factory to the surrounding area remain acceptable? External safety concerns the impact on the surrounding area, such as neighboring businesses or a nearby village, while fire safety focuses more on the risks within the site boundaries. We mainly work for companies that handle hazardous substances. As a senior, I am less involved in conducting studies myself and more involved in supervising colleagues. I manage projects in terms of content and planning, answer complex questions, and ensure that our reports meet the highest quality standards.

An important part of our work involves drawing up safety reports and performing quantitative risk analyses (QRAs). We use complex modeling software and strict guidelines from organizations such as the RIVM. Sometimes you come to the conclusion that a development is not possible at first glance. That is when the challenge begins for me: critically examining the calculations, identifying where the greatest risk lies, and figuring out what adjustments will make a project feasible, within all legal frameworks, of course.

Working on projects with impact

Thanks to my years of experience, I quickly know which buttons to push to achieve the greatest effect. That makes it even more valuable when you are involved in projects of national importance, such as the construction of pipelines. Our work indirectly contributes to sustainable development. We do not initiate projects ourselves, but by applying our expertise to initiatives such as CO₂ capture or making sustainable energy storage safer, we do contribute to larger social goals.

Working together in a close-knit team

The atmosphere within Fire & External Safety is informal and collegial. There is no competition to win projects; we are happy to share the work with each other. We meet weekly to discuss the progress of projects, but in between meetings, the lines of communication are always open for questions. Because our team is organized nationally, we do not see each other every day at the office, but that does not make our collaboration any less close-knit. On the contrary: it is precisely because we talk to each other regularly online that personal contact remains strong.

Growth as an expert and mentor

One of my most important roles is mentoring new colleagues. Ultimately, this benefits the team: several supervised colleagues can carry out many more projects together than I can on my own. This shift has also helped me to further develop my leadership skills. I do not aspire to be a traditional manager, but rather a substantive team lead who collaborates, contributes ideas, and provides direction.

Looking forward

In the coming years, I want to further deepen my expertise and remain involved in complex, technically challenging projects. I also want to help colleagues grow independently in their roles. Personally, I like to stay close to the content: solving technical problems is still at the heart of what I love doing most, thanks to my background in physics. In a world where safety and sustainability are becoming increasingly important, there is plenty to do, and I am happy to contribute.