reaching goal zero and beyond through safety culturegoalzeroandbeyond.yolasite.com/resources/gzero...

Raj Singh

SAFETY@WORK Reaching Goal Zero and Beyond through Safety Culture

Reaching Goal Zero and Beyond through Safety Culture 2

Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Safety Culture................................................................................................................................................ 4

Why Safety Culture ....................................................................................................................................... 5

Establishing Safety Culture ........................................................................................................................... 7

Reaching Goal Zero ....................................................................................................................................... 9

Getting Goal Zero ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 11


About The Author

Raj Singh is the CEO of Safey@ Work and a leading Safety Health and Environmental Consultant with

extensive experience and involvements in Oil & Gas (Upstream and Downstream), Petrochemical,

Marine and Construction Industries for the past 18 years in Asia and Middle East. Raj has a Masters in

Business Administration from the University of Adelaide,

Raj has been providing consulting, advisory and training to the Top Management of organizations as well

as projects. His driving philosophy is to create a better, more productive, profitable and professional

workforce. Raj’s business acumen has allowed him to market his services to various organizations

around the world.

As a preferred supplier for the Energy Institute’s Hearts and Minds program, Raj comprehends the complexities and challenges senior executives face in their organization. This inner understanding of complex organization management has allowed him to conceptualize and offer custom solutions to busy executives. Raj’s is actively involved in developing training standards for safety. He also remains one of the most sought after expert witnesses in Singapore, having handled numerous expert witness cases involving fatalities whilst providing calculations and reports to the various courts. Raj has received extensive training in technical safety, investigations as well as Behavioural Safety.

Raj is a prolific writer and author of two books. “Risk Assessment: Simplified” First published in 2004 and “The accident files: real industrial accidents.” In his free time, Raj enjoys spending his downtime at the driving range, running, and reading.


Introduction

“Goal Zero and Beyond” is the term that indicates the objective of organizations to achieve

zero accidents in the workplace. Although there are debates on the feasibility of attaining

Goal Zero, the fundamental implementation of a safety culture is one of the reasons for

increased productivity in businesses, especially in high-risk and hazardous industries. This

article attempts to answer (1) How organizations can be more productive and successful by

adopting safety culture and safety mindset and (2.) How can organizations reach Goal Zero

and beyond?

Safety Culture

Safety Culture is defined as the enduring value and priority placed on workers and

public safety by everyone at every level of an organization or it can defined as an organizational

atmosphere; where safety and health is understood and accepted as high priority. . It refers to

the extent to which individuals and groups will commit to the following: (1) Personal

responsibility for safety (2) Act to preserve safety (3)Enhance and communicate safety concerns

(4) Strive to learn adapt and learning from mistakes Developing a safety culture within high-risk

and hazardous enterprises; such as nuclear plants, chemical production, manufacturing

including , oil and gas industries , electric plants etc is oil is imperative due to inherent risk in

these industries. The disregard for safety culture often results in fatal accidents, and disasters,

causing loss of lives, damage to the environment and destruction of property. Compromise of

safety standards often takes place due to one or many reasons such as insufficient training,

poorly maintained equipment, and human errors.


Why Safety Culture

Studies show that there is a correlation between the quality of safety culture and

productivity. Corporate and factory accidents, mishaps and unhealthy workplaces adversely

affect productivity.

According to recent estimate the total cost of injuries have been $450 billion US

construction industry range from $7 billion to $17 billion annually. Most contractors understand

that a worker's injury has a direct effect on insurance premium cost, but there are also

"indirect" costs that result. These indirect costs that are often overlooked have been found to

be more detrimental to the overall expense picture than the direct expenses. The problem of

not knowing how to eliminate worker injury has been pervasive until recent times. A new

concept is emerging called zero injury. Zero injury means that essentially all serious injury to

workers can be successfully prevented. The obvious benefits to owners and contractors are the

elimination of unnecessary indirect costs and reduction of worker's compensation insurance

premiums by as much as 80 percent. That translates to lower construction costs for owners and

higher profit margins for contractors. In 2004, Dave Pepper, the third-generation owner of

Pepper Construction, met with his insurance group to review the group’s annual summary of

safety performance. To his surprise, Pepper Construction’s experience modification rate (EMR)

placed them in the bottom third of the group. The EMR compares the frequency and severity of

workers’ compensation claims between companies of similar size operating in the same type of

business and reflects the degree to which a particular company’s experience is better or worse

than the industry as a whole. At the time, Pepper Construction Group’s EMR was 0.71, nearly

30% better than the national average for general contractors, but two-thirds of the insurance

group members were even better. Safety performance was good, but not good enough.


Pepper Construction had begun to develop a long-range strategic planning initiative. The

initial goals set by company leadership were related to business growth - profit, efficiency,

information technology and production - but not one mentioned safety. Dave reminded his

team that the company’s most valuable asset has always been its people and he encouraged

them to shift their focus. It was as if a light went on within his management group. They fully

embraced the commitment to safety and saw that it would protect the company’s greatest

asset - their people. The strategic plan shifted and safety became the first priority. Their initial

goals remained, but safety was now the foundation on which profit, growth and productivity

would be built.

At the regulatory level, compliance with proscriptive Environment Health & Safety

(EH&S) legislations is now often critical to market access in many countries. But the importance

of EH&S is even more far-reaching. Reports show a clear link between the effective

management of operational risks and increased productivity and efficiency. In other words,

organizations with comprehensive EH&S programs achieve superior business results. They

achieve higher employee retention, increased shareholder satisfaction and greater brand value.

However, to obtain the most sustained value from these programs, companies should not limit

themselves to the implementation of tools and continuous improvement initiatives intended to

mitigate risks behind potential accidents.

High performing companies in the EH&S space successfully implement within their

organizations a robust safety culture. And safety pays back, not only through reduced

accidents, injuries and fatalities, but also by improving overall productivity and motivation

across the board. As companies strive for zero fatalities and incident-free operations, the

promotion of safe and healthy workplace environments have strengthened significantly in

many sectors, including oil and gas, metals and mining, steel and extractive industries.


In fact, best-in-class companies are the safest and most productive. A recent Aberdeen

Group study, co-sponsored by Rockwell Automation, measured the relationship between

automation safety and productivity and showed the best-in-class companies had 5 percent

higher Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), 4 percent less unscheduled downtime, and

significantly fewer injuries and repeat accidents compared to peers. OEE is a widely used

measurement of how well a manufacturing plant performs relative to its designed production

capacity.

Establishing Safety Culture

Government plays an imperative role in establishing safety culture in business sectors,

industries, enterprises, and organizations. Without government policy and implementation of

laws related to public safety, it is almost impossible to implement and enforce safety culture. .

Public accountability is a compelling factor why companies adhere to safety regulations.

For example Singapore Government enacted workplace Safety Act in 2006 to cultivate a

workplace safety culture. The main intention was that stakeholders take practical measures to

ensure safety and health of workers. There are three main guiding principal of the Safety Act (1)

Reduce risk by minimizing risks, (2) instill ownership of the safety and (3)Health outcomes and

preventing accidents by higher penalties. The result is that Singaporean workplace environment

has become safer and the rates of incidents and fatalities have decreased over the past five

years.

The Occupational and Safety Administration (OSA) of the US Department of Labor is a

good example of how a government unit help implement safety culture. Under the OSH Act,

employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace. OSHA's mission is to

assure safe and healthful workplaces by setting and enforcing standards and by providing


training, outreach, education and assistance. The proactive and aggressive effort of OSA in

implementing sustainable safety programs and enforcement of regulations was meant to

ensure safety in workplaces compel companies to establish their safety culture.

It is for this reason that most governments have laws, regulations, programs, and

monitoring systems with regards safety and occupational health. In a global setting, there are

international agencies, inter-country institutions, and NGOs that upholds and advocates safety

culture, occupational safety, and environmental preservation.

One relevant example of an inter-country agency monitoring and program

development for safety culture is Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safety and

Health (PEROSH). In its research entitled Expanding the Zero Accident Vision to the European

Context - Interlinking Research and Networking (EZAV), the objective states that t he zero

accident vision (ZAV) is an important and challenging phenomenon, with a great potential for

safety improvement. The basic idea of the ZAV is that all accidents are preventable. It promotes

the adoption of a high standard safety culture and a “vision zero” concept in all sectors of

working life. As there are still too many occupational accidents in the EU, the zero accident

vision can be an important driver for occupational safety improvements. However, until now,

only very few research has been carried out, to identify and mobilize its potential. (PERSOSH)

GBRIA is a trade association established in 1970, whose members include over 50

energy, paper, petrochemical, and oil refining plants representing 43 companies. The Mission

of GBRIA is to drive and coordinate sustainable cost effective solutions to industry, its affiliates

and communities. GBRIA has a long history of involvement in safety improvement with

programs such as contractor safety and health orientation training and the Security Passport

through the Safety Council, contractor safety and health audits and awards for excellence,

quarterly incident and illness benchmarking among members and quarterly safety, health and


security technology exchanges. In fact, a majority of GBRIA’s activities are directed towards the

safety of its member colleagues.

But while the participation of government, local safety association, and inter-country

agencies are necessary, the cooperation of companies with government initiatives is equally

important. Private enterprises are making giant leaps to pace with their government safety

enforcements. Aside from government pressure, the expectation from investors and clients are

added motivations for safety enforcements. Companies with troubling safety track records are

put on a spotlight through bad publicity, risk protests from safety advocates and face censure of

labour safety NGOs. All of these factors contribute to the establishment of organizational safety

culture.

Reaching Goal Zero

Goal Zero is the ‘holy grail’ for high-risk companies because achieving such a goal

reflects quality management, adherence to world-class standards, and a showcase of

excellence to investors and clients, an assurance that their enterprise is being run well. There

are various well know business, for whom safety comes first because they understand value of

safety. For some critics; Goal Zero is a farfetched idea that seems unattainable to achieve but

corporations throughout the decades have been able to achieve it. For example Shell states

that Goal Zero captures the belief that they can operate without fatalities or significant

incidents despite the often difficult conditions in which we operate. To support this aim, they

continue to roll out initiatives to strengthen safety culture and have been successful in reaching

up to a certain mark. Alta Steel goal is a healthy, injury-free workplace. By working together in

all parts of the Health & Safety program, they work harder to achieve e zero incidents, , and

injuries.


Turner Bros has been recognized by LyondellBasell for achieving Goal Zero Performance

in 2010. They believe that all employees and contractors should strive to achieve zero injuries,

zero incidents, zero non-compliance with government regulations, zero product defects and

zero mistakes.

Xerox ramped up its safety programs in order to reduce workplace injuries to the

optimum level through Goal zero. In 2007, the Total Recordable Incident (TRI) rate declined by

13% and the Days Away From Work (DAFW) cases declined by 11%. Their overall TRI dropped

by 59% that exceeded management expectations. The e reason main reason for Xerox success

was their leadership unyielding commitment to instill safety culture persistently and improve

the safety standards within their organization.

Getting Goal Zero

Bredimus states the safety is necessary because: (1) It is a moral responsibility (2)

Demanded by society (3) It is a business imperative. He adds that total management

commitment including safety, rules and Standards are in Place, trained workforce, engaged

employees, drive to continuously improve, and safety as a major element in performance

evaluations as the indispensable key result areas to ensure maintain a safety culture. When

these key results area are sufficiently and effectively addressed, Goal Zero is achieved.


Generally accidents are caused by various factors ranging from lack of Top

Management commitment, poor supervision, pitiable compliance, unsafe culture, workers

unwillingness to learn and so on. Most of which are individual human elements that could be

improved consistently and people can be taught to act safety. In short attaining goal zero and

beyond is not based on just one factor but its combination of factors such as , respect for

regulations, responsible career program, continuous training, behavior safety, and risk

compromise all coherently work to achieve the dream of Goal Zero and Beyond

Conclusion

The above discussion has shown that Goal Zero and beyond is real and achievable

Regardless of the conflicting opinions on the feasibility of Goal Zero, having a high-standard for

safety is important. It has been proven that productivity and safety are inseparable twins.

However, corporate owners and businessmen should not focus on developing safety culture as

a mere incentive to save from expenses arising from occupational accidents, or from their mere

desire to increase profit by increased productivity.


REFERENCES

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