The Mind Set Has Shifted From A Reactive Approach With Safety Driven By Safety Personnel To Higher Accountability And Ownership By The Line

We spoke to Shankar Rajagopalan, Corporate Quality & Safety  Head I VP - QSHE, Sustainability & Business Excellence, Tata Projects Ltd. to understand the key challenges related to implementing safety regulations within a large organization, the pre-requisites for safety managers before they conduct a workplace safety audit and the changing mindsets in the construction industry related to OSH.

Interviewed by Adeesh Sharma

What are the key challenges related to implementing safety regulations within a large organisation?

There are some inherent challenges in large organizations – especially in the construction industry :

• Highly labor intensive

• High level of Risks including Working at Height, Electrical Safety, Pre-commissioning, Contractors Safety & Fire Safety

• Short duration projects, rapidly Changing risks – hazards need to be dynamically assessed with a Dynamic Risk Assessment

• Unorganized material movement within premises

• Varying Conditions of contract imposed by customers

• Varying Legal Requirements (BOCW Rules – Building & Other Construction Workers Rules and Factories Act )

       • Welfare Boards

       • Imprisonment for violation, Penalties – fines

• Variety of exposures to hazards & risks due to difficult / remote working sites

• Large Contractor Work force, semi–literate, Competency of contractor workforce

• Varying Engineers / Supervisors accountability

• Inadequate Worker Participation

• Poor personal Appreciation of Risk

What are the pre-requisites for safety managers before they conduct a workplace safety audit?

The Safety profession requires a good risk perception, a personal commitment to safety and a passion to protect. A safety manager needs a good understanding of the Safety Management system to be able to identify systemic deficiencies.

Please tell us about the changing mindsets in the construction industry related to OSH.

The construction industry has seen some step changes over the past years. The Clients/Stakeholders expectations are increasing, The exposure to the social media has raised the bar on safety standards. The focus has also shifted from the erstwhile high risk activity focus and technical safety issues to the non routine tasks and behavioral aspects of safety. The mind set has also shifted from a Reactive approach with safety driven by the Safety personnel to higher accountability and ownership by the line. The emphasis on Felt Leadership indeed is a reflection that actions speak louder than words.

Please tell us about your views on OSH India expo and the role played by it in enhancing OSH awareness.

The OSH series of events has built up a good network of likeminded Occupational Health & safety Professionals as a Force for Good. The platform leverages the synergies from this group. The though leadership from the OSH organizers has really gone a long way to make the industry safer