Leading for Safety - A Sustainable Business Practice

Today's business need is "Safety Leadership for Sustainable Business". The industries having bad safety culture can not survive more. Hence, we must focus on "How we can move towards "Zero Incident Practice"

The Accountable Industrial Leaders, Factory owners, Unit heads, CEOs, Compliance Officers etc. always spent their time & money to improve safety performance of their company.

Apart from strict compliance of Legal Obligations, they always :

1.      Select Safe Process & Equipment,

2.      Replace unsafe or Hazardous things with safe & Non-hazardous,

3.      Pay attention on full Engineering Controls,

4.      Give full emphasis on Training & Awareness,

5.      Ensure availability & use of suitable PPEs.

The leaders dedicated for safe operation of the plant & process : -

1.      hires skilled and Experienced safety professionals

2.      hires famous safety experts and consultants,

3.      make full efforts to manage their system and process in a manner with “Zero Harm & Zero Property Damage”

They also comply with other Accident Prevention Tools, like : -

1.      PHA, HAZOP, HIRA, JSA, FMEA, etc.

2.      Develop user-friendly SOPs and enforce to follow

3.      Permit to work & LOTO System,

4.      Adopting management of changes in Technology, Facility & employees

5.      Pre-startup review

6.      Assuring Mechanical integrity of the system & equipment

7.      Emergency Planning & Preparedness

8.      Contractor Management

9.      Workers involvement in Safety management

10.  Incident Investigation & Root cause analysis

11.  Safety Audit, Plant Safety Rounds etc.

Even after making such a lot of efforts for safety, accidents are experienced. They, then thinks : -

1.      Why the accident happens? 

2.      Where they were failing?

3.      What Extra to be done to prevent such incidents?

As we all know, sometime Industrial Leaders moves towards – Penalty & Punishment which may also affect the Increments and Promotion of the employees in some companies. 

Actually, by means of all above, their intension is only to prevent Accident. Indirectly, they want to prevent us from injury. Their intension is only to make our family happy by virtue of saving our life. But It is observed that these tools are not fully effective because in almost all the cases, may be negative effect on work because there are several factors affecting Psychology of a person to perform job. Like –

1.      Social factors, e.g. person has to celebrate Deepawali with his family as his neighbor is celebrating but he does not have enough money

2.      Personal Factors like His wife is ill, he has to pay school fees, pique with wife etc.

3.      Industrial culture & Departmental Factors like – Boss is irresponsible, Colleagues are unsupportive, bad politics, leg pulling etc.

4.      Discrimination

5.      Fearfulness

6.      Absent minded

7.      Demotivating

8.      Frustrating or annoying

9.      Fatigue, Boredom & Mental Stress

Hence,

I would like to share my experience with you – How to manage the Human Psychology to Improve Safe Behavior of a person. I mean, there are few factors which if managed well can encourage the employees for safe behavior at work. Like : -

1.      Improving Organizational Culture and making responsible each one for their own safety as well as safety of coworkers,

2.      Understand the need of an employee and Give Psychological and Social Support

3.      Clear leadership, e.g.: Communicating clear Expectations from subordinates

4.      Respect of Dignity is the major factor impacts on behavioral Change

5.      Taking care of employees Growth & Development

6.      Pay attention on Recognition & Reward

7.      Always getting Involved the employees & Influence them by good behavior,

8.      Workload Management,

9.      Engagement and Skill utilization,

10.   Providing fearless job like Job Security,

11.   Protection of Physical Safety,

12.   Respect the suggestions of the employees, even if it is worthless,

13.   Communication of SOPs, Safety matters etc. to the employees in easy way, easily understood and user-friendly

14.   Motivation for safe behavior and engagement and involvement in safe practices

15.   Identification and taking care of the Person do not want to follow SOP intentionally, Major behavioral issues.

16.   Engagement, Involvement and Motivation for safe behavior

Once the practices converted in to behavior, a good culture becomes an integral part of our day to day activities. In short - we can say, If we want to create a good safety culture, "Instead of Hammering on Hardware, we have to just Touch the Software", will be getting good result. Please remember - "Never Touch any wrong Key of Touch Screen. Identify the right key and touch it at right time will give a result beyon desire."