Safety is the condition of being protected from harm or any undesirable effects of activities during execution of work. Over the years it has gained very significant importance and organisations are addressing the concern proactively to ensure any unsafe incident at their sites. Safety at sites is more challenging due to uncontrolled working conditions as well as multiple agencies working simultaneously on the project. Work is executed through contract workers and this sector is still not organised. Workmen keep on changing and each replacement needs induction and safety training specific to the job as well as the site.
Most of the good organisations have adopted safety as one of the core values and striving to improve the safety culture within the organisation. The DuPont Bradley Curve helps the organisation to assess the prevalent culture.
Safety is top driven, which means it either starts at the top or it doesn’t start. Management has to believe that all injuries can be prevented and also that the management is accountable for safety performance.
Felt leadership means management’s leadership commitment to ensure managers and supervisors are committed and visibly involved in workmen’s health and safety. Leaders should demonstrate personal involvement that is real and contagious. Their desired behaviours should be easily felt and noticed by employees. Leaders are accountable for setting clear expectations as they are accountable for the safety performance of the organisation.
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A good management system integrate safety into existing quality systems and is part of the review and reporting system. The HSE management system too is based on the PDCA cycle – Plan, Do, Check and Act. Responsibilities, authority and accountabilities should be clearly assigned. Training and communication ensure people are competent. Schedule checking of process to defined standards (Safe Act Observation or safety audits) ensures that the process is achieving the outcome and deviations provide the opportunities for improvements.
Total ownership of adopting safety requires active workforce engagement. Workforce engagement fosters an interdependent, team-based safety culture, which demonstrates – we care for and help each other. This ultimately leads to safer workplace with less injuries.
Knowing people is very important. People in the organisation can be categorised as – Disbelievers, Safety followers and safety champions as depicted in below graph and endeavour should be to change all to Safety Champions. This can be achieved through workforce involvement in following safety activities:
- Safety Auditing
- Safety meetings
- Near miss reporting improvement initiatives
- Preparation of processes (work method statements, risk assessment)
With the support of Felt leadership, Management Systems and workforce engagement, the organisation can achieve the goal of injury free work place- safe and healthy people, safe and tidy plant with safe working processes.
The organisations should strive for “Zero Harm”. Zero harm means staying safe all the time, 100%- no exceptions. Everyone, which includes employees, contractors and visitors, has the right to go home in the same condition in which they had arrived the construction site.
LYSAGHT® under the house of Tata BlueScope Steel’s exercises Zero Harm policy which is meant for its plant, people and environment with the ultimate focus to drive continuous improvement in health and safety performance. A robust management system framework and a sound safety governance structure drive this policy. Key initiatives taken to ensure Zero Harm are:
- Robust safety plan based on Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) policy of TBSPL
- Safety training programs for employees
- Regular Safety audits at on-site locations of LYSAGHT® and in workplaces
- Safety competency and capability improvement
- Development in safety leadership
Safety in Tata BlueScope Steel is paramount. Senior Leadership Team is responsible for implementing and reviewing the safety in plants and off-side construction sites of LYSAGHT®. Monthly review meeting agenda includes safety KPIs, LTI, MTI – Target Vs Actuals, Safety performance of each of the plant, offsite construction sites and environmental performance. Reiterating our contribution towards Safety, LYSAGHT® has been recognized with the CIDC Vishwakarma Award for Safety, Health and Environment during 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Visit our website www.tatabluescopesteel.com for more information.
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