By: Hemant Sethi, Country Head India, British Safety Council India
Conducting a workplace safety audit is the most expansive way to gauge the efficiency of a company’s safety management system. It also helps understand the overall effectiveness and legality of the entire system. In fact, a standardized safety audit is key to assessing and measuring safety on the various sites of the company as well.
It is essential that the safety audit is done in the right manner with professional help so that it can become one of the company’s greatest training tools, setting the stage for safe overall culture within the organisation.
While the primary focus of safety audits is to ensure that a business remains compliant with local, state and federal legislation, they also have the ability to identify and correct oversights if there are any in the company. Oversights, if not identified and rectified at the right time, can lead to expensive and often even fatal injuries and casualties. Another important element about safety audits is that they can successfully point out weaknesses in an employer’s safety programs or practices and in turn help to design a new safety plan.
In countries like India, developing safety audits and a safety network in workplaces is one of the most critical aspects. This is because around 80% of the estimated 465 million-strong workforce in India is not protected by the existing health and safety legal framework. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, making great progress in all areas, including health and safety. Yet, there is still much to be done. Overall, workplace deaths in India are 20 times higher than in countries like the UK. It is estimated that there are 48,000 work-related deaths in India each year, whereas there were 144 workplace fatalities in Britain in 2017.
It is, therefore, more significant to raise awareness on the importance of managing health and safety risks in the workplace. Safety audits and networks also challenge traditional views and approaches while supporting employers in adopting practices which better safeguard the health and safety of their workers. However, safety audits are not the same as regular facility inspections and they should not be replacing each other or taking each other’s place.
Workplace safety audit also requires a consistent frequency and conducting only one workplace safety audit may not have the desired effect. If it is conducted only once a year, chances are that it just becomes a recurring goal that must be achieved once annually, rather than a constant requirement. The staff may tend to develop an attitude whereas the date of the annual audit approaches, they may “ramp up” safety efforts to ensure compliance just ahead of the audit. The result would be that through the year, the standards may be relaxed and there may be no sense of urgency towards safety for the rest of the year. A more efficacious approach would be to schedule a range of specific safety audits throughout the year, reserving the final month for one comprehensive workplace safety audit.
While safety audits and safety networks are important, establishing safety leadership is also a vital aspect. Understanding the importance of safety leadership is imperative for any
organisation that wants to create a safe working environment. Leaders may not be directly performing the work that requires safety procedures; however, they play a key role in safety performance. Developing leadership on safety helps establish the standards and values in an organisation and has the power to enforce safety requirements.
Safety leaders do not essentially have to be senior staff like managers or supervisors. Such leaders can be anybody from the organisation who has positive social influence over their colleagues and an interest in improving the safety culture. The best safety leaders are the ones who can help their colleagues progress on the safety count. They are the people who the team can come to for advice about best practices and they will get information that is correct as well as helpful. For this, it is necessary for leaders to have a deep understanding of the routine and daily challenges that employees face while doing their jobs.
In addition to the organisational leadership team, individual workers play a key role in maintaining safe practices and cultivating a culture of safety. Recognizing these people and empowering them for leadership responsibilities goes a long way in helping the organisation maintain a strong track record of safety in the workplace.
Another important requirement for a safety audit is a team of good professionals who have the necessary knowledge and experience. It makes business sense to outsource the safety audit to ensure objectivity. A fresh perspective is better at spotting whatever issues an in-house supervisor or section manager has failed to notice.
At a time when a streamlined, consistent approach to auditing safety is every company’s requirement, it is best to adopt a thoughtful approach with comprehensive training and execution. There are companies like the British Safety Council who have been campaigning to protect workers and improve workplace conditions and practices, both in Britain and worldwide since the past 60 years. The British Safety Council has been supporting the Indian market for over 30 years, providing health, safety and environmental consultancy services, training and audits from its UK office in London. In November 2017, the organisation opened an office in Mumbai to offer a greater range of products (audit, training, e-learning, qualifications and membership) tailored to the needs of the Indian market.
The British Safety Council already works with over 100 companies in India, many of whom are on the India Fortune 500 list. Among its members are: Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai International Airport, Reliance Industries and Tata. Many leading Indian businesses take part in the British Safety Council’s International Safety Awards and the Sword/Globe of Honour awards and send delegates to the British Safety Council’s training courses in London.