Veronica Benain | Occupational safety and health – A business imperative for success

The habit of employing high risk-taking behaviours in a public space seems to be trending upwards. This is exemplified in reports from the Road Safety Unit, which show an increase in road fatalities this year to more than 330 to date. Contributing factors for these unfortunate events range from drivers not taking precautionary measures, such as wearing seat belts and speeding, to pedestrians not exercising proper road use. This risk-taking behaviour is also identified in the workplace.

Safety and health in any work environment is a shared responsibility between employee and employer; however, getting employee compliance can be challenging. With the importance of safety not being culturally rooted, employers often struggle to change the mindset of their workers to one where good safety habits are practised as part of a daily routine. As such, employers are now looking to newer and more scientific ways of changing the ‘safety culture’ within their respective organisations.

BEST PRACTICES

‘Best practices’ are techniques that are accepted as superior to any alternatives because they produce the best results. These are recognised internationally, and some companies have implemented a few elements to fight against the ‘risk-taking monster’ in hopes of creating a safer work environment.

As part of the Heineken Company, Red Stripe has implemented a safety management structure. Employing workers in our factory, on our farms, in our offices, and other spaces within our network comes with safety and health risks. As such, ‘Safety first’ is our number one valued behaviour and guides us in making safety a way of life.

We find the Heinrich Triangle applicable in our environment because this theory deals with industrial accident prevention. The base of the triangle looks at ‘unsafe acts and conditions’ and once these are addressed, the possibility for a fatality is significantly reduced.

Identifying these areas has led us to encouraging ‘near miss’ reporting among employees. A near-miss event holds the possibility for injury or death; however, these incidents are often left unreported because no harm was done. By not reporting near misses, employees do not have the chance to learn from their mistakes and so, are not actively preventing serious incidents from occurring.

We have also implemented behavioural-based safety, which is a process that creates a safety partnership between management and employees. The process requires employees to focus on their daily safety behaviours as well as those of their co-workers. This fosters active participation among staff who now hold safety at a high standard, so much so that they challenge their colleagues whenever a safety violation is identified.

Through our Safety Improvement Report Card system, employees record all accidents and identify safe and unsafe behaviours. It is also mandated that all meetings begin with discussions on relevant safety topics.

HEALTH A NECESSARY CONSIDERATION

The safety of our partners is also of paramount importance. This is why we work so closely with our contracting suppliers to ensure they have a robust safety system in place that mimics what is expected from companies that are part of the ‘Heineken world’.

Employee health is also a necessary consideration for business development. Unhealthy employees mean that workers will not give of their best talents and skills, and that would be to the detriment of the organisation. In our dynamic environment at Red Stripe, we proactively assess health risks and develop a structure within our ecosystem that puts maintaining good health at the top of everyone’s priority list.

We provide staff members with resources that will help them to cultivate a healthier lifestyle, which include a wellness programme in our lunch room, a hearing conservation programme, respiratory-protection programme, and an ergonomic programme. We also have an occupational health centre on site which offers a gamut of services, as well as a fully outfitted gym, which makes exercising more convenient.

Actioning these plans have allowed us to examine productivity more comprehensively and put our employees first. The success of any business lies with its employees, so we must play our part in promoting their well-being. Through collaboration and a commitment to success, a safety-supportive environment can be achieved.

As we contribute to the realisation of Vision 2030, it is our duty as organisational leaders to emphasize the seriousness of occupational safety and health and promote good habits among employees that will guide them in their daily lives.

Veronica Benain is the occupational health and office services manager at Red Stripe. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.