Increasing Safety Awareness Is Our Duty Towards Improving The Well-Being Of The Users Of Safety Products

Wendy Leslie Pereira, Director, Unicare Emergency Equipment talks about their journey in India and OSH awareness over the years, new and innovative products launched by her organization in the Indian market, market strategy to increase awareness about their products in India and her views on OSH India and the work done by it in improving OSH awareness across South Asia.

Interviewed by Adeesh Sharma

1. Please tell us about your journey in India and your views on OSH awareness over the years.

The concept of safety was first launched in India by my father Mr. Joseph Leslie Vaz. He was the founder of Safety in India and started off as a trader. Gradually, he got involved with manufacturing of PPE. He worked closely with his peers to bring about safety awareness within the country. He believed that hard working labourers should have the right and good quality equipment to work with. Thus our contribution to safety started way back in the form of a legacy. My father taught us all, to always do the right thing, because of which the Leslico brand name has a great reputation in the market till date!

I’ve worked hard to reach where I’m at today, and thoroughly enjoy what I do even during this phase of my life! Even now I enjoy taking on challenges that come my way. Our main aim is to elevate the standards of safety within India and continue to contribute to safety & safety awareness more than we already are!

I know for a fact that The Government of India & its various ministries, in collaboration with multiple associations and agencies (e.g. SAMA, BIS, ITTA, NSC etc.) are striving towards the formulation, amendment & execution of policies beneficial to the Industry. Pace of work in this direction has picked up in recent years and the outcome is pretty evident in certain pockets of the country and industry. We could definitely do better to enhance safety awareness though and that’s what our sole objective has been!

2. What are some of the new and innovative products you have proudly launched in the Indian market?

We as an organization have always been the front runner in providing state of art and innovative products for increasing the safety compliance of the organizations across India. In addition to being pioneers for Eyewash & Safety Shower, we’re also the first company to have BIS registration for Eyewash & Safety Shower under the Brand Uni(care) . As part of our endeavor we have recently entered the safety footwear market. In India the local manufacturers are majorly providing the S1 category safety shoes to our industrial work force but, for complete user protection, the S3 category of products is used in the footwear which provides anti-penetration mid sole along with high comfort and water repellent leathers. The ergonomics and foot safety of the user is also completely taken care of. Thus Joseph Leslie Co. takes pride in providing the complete solution for safety footwear as per global benchmarks and make the Indian user, experience the same degree of comfort and safety, as being used globally. Apart from this, our latest additions boast of Faucet Eyewash, Chiller Shower, Portable Decontamination etc.

3. What is your market strategy to increase awareness about your products in India?

Increasing Safety Awareness is not our marketing strategy but our duty towards the well-being of the users of safety products. Our organization is committed to increase awareness of safety across the country and as part of strategy we would continue to invest in training, seminars and roadshows adhering to the stringent Indian and Global standards for all the products we sell under our brand umbrella. We have observed a direct correlation between knowledge sharing and improved safety compliance and have invested heavily in grass root level contact programs with users to understand their challenges and help them with appropriate solutions. We have also upgraded our supply chain management modules and are using technology for improving our customer experience. We are sure all stakeholders will make every effort needed for contribution towards saving lives of millions of people engaged in different occupations across the country.

4. Please tell us about your views on OSH India and the work done by it in improving OSH awareness across South Asia.

OSH India has played a monumental role in recent years within the Safety industry. It has been very professional in its approach throughout. OSH India has created a perfectly effective common platform/forum for all professionals/stakeholders within the community to network with each other while being involved in a healthy/constructive constructive exchange of thoughts & ideas. For India, more work needs to be done by OSH to engage with industry clusters other than Mumbai. An Innovative approach coupled with a cost effective operative model is an ace model that could be possibly adopted to successfully do so. Nevertheless, every OSH event does bring newer concepts & technologies to the fore. Keep up the good work!