Safety Article for BEE Newsletter

I wrote and submitted the following article for possible publication in a newletter published by Financial Mail.

“As far as reasonably practicable” – A Matter of Balance in the World of Health and Safety

 “As far as reasonable practicable” is the test by which a business owner or employer, will decide how much effort and resources should, or can be applied in a particular workplace to make it safe.

This test is mostly subjective, the outcome depending on the levels of risk, the available finance and, more importantly, the mindset of management.

Friends who have returned from contracts in London, have entertained us with stories of the extent to which the British Safety Authorities regulate health and safety in the workplace, and the levels at which the society actually apply these standards, willingly or unwillingly.  Of course, the general feeling is that they have overregulated the workplace to the extent that the restrictions hamper the general flow of operations, and stifle good business practise.  My experience in South Africa, is that not all, but a great deal of enterprises still approach Occupational Health and Safety from the viewpoint of “bare minimum”.  Companies will put in place only those minimum requirements proposed by legislation and bylaws, in order to stay on the good side of Dept of Labour inspectors.

Creating the correct balance between effective health and safety practise on the one hand and ensuring cost effective and smooth flowing operations is somewhat of a challenge.   I try to help strategic management through the dilemma, by using a tactic which is interpreted by some as “playing the emotion card”, but really, can health and safety practise be seen in a cold clinical light totally devoid of emotion?

Once one is reminded that every staff member, or client involved in your operations, is a real person in their own right, a mother, father, son, daughter, someone who is loved and needed by someone else, a new window opens.  Glimpsing business through this perspective puts an immediate emotive value on the importance of human life, and the need to keep staff safe in their area of operations.  “As far as reasonably practicable” now takes on a greater level of accountability.  Not all CEO’s are comfortable viewing this subject through the suggested window, but the implications of not considering best practise are unavoidable.
Much may be lost “twixt the cup and the lip” and putting theory into practise is not always as easy as it may first appear.  One must also take into account that safety is very seldom a primary function of an organisation, and that along with security and staff development, it usually comes off the bottom line.  This can be borne out by the increase in organisations making use of Safety and Health Advisors and consultants, to create and manage safety programmes. Often an advisor will be brought in to create a programme, get the necessary appointments in place and ensure that the minimum requirements to satisfy Dept of Labour criteria are met.  Unfortunately however, a document does “not a safety programme make!”  The key to a healthy safety culture within an organisation lies in the ongoing commitment by all to maintaining the standards, and the sustainability of the programme into the future.

 Companies having sufficient capacity and resources may have “in house” safety officers, and the presence of these individuals or teams, makes an ongoing, effective and measureable safety programme easier to reach.  Even these people are known to suffer from “analysis paralysis” from time to time, and the training, mentoring and support of Safety staff must be a key performance criteria for management and the Human Resources Departments.

Getting the programme off the ground, sowing the seed for the growth of a healthy safety culture and meeting all legislative requirements appear daunting and expensive.  This is not necessarily the case.  Obviously, the more hazardous the operations, the greater will be the onus on the organisation to meet safety best practises.  No doubt the safety plan required to launch a space shuttle will be considerably thicker and more challenging than the plan required by a single owner/employee doughnut stand.   However, there are ways of reducing the apparent height of this hurdle, if the management team are prepared to commit themselves to the process.

Here are some pointers:

1.  Competency: If safety is not your field of operations, then get as many of the staff who are influential in the safety programme onto courses and formal training workshops.  Understanding the technical details involved in compulsory processes like hazard identification and risk assessment removes the mystery and seemingly “esoteric” nature of these activities.

2.  Confidence:  A confident, motivated staff go a long way toward the sustainability of a programme.  Ensure that Senior Management and HR practitioners are finding creative ways of instilling enthusiasm for a safe working environment, and posters don’t always hack it!

3.  Participation:  A safety programme is everyone’s business.  Ensure participation to the lowest levels in the organisation, it’s their lives on the line each day.  No risk assessments should be carried out without the general participation of the staff.

Show you mean it, walk the walk and avoid being a talker, your entire organisation will begin to look after each other, and your safety culture is born.

Stay safe.

 

Bruce