At JSPL safety and health are accorded the highest importance and are integral to the manner in which
we conduct our business. The company has put in place a robust system for safety management
with an Occupational Health and Safety Policy that incorporates standard operating procedures,
instructions, safe methods of work and work permit system.
To further strengthen its safety standards at a cultural level we recently started introducing our
employees to behavioural safety education, training and practices. The emphasis of this initiative is
to continuously strengthen the safety culture in the organization through a process reliant on
behaviour-based safety observation.
Employees/contractors who observe an unsafe act are encouraged to report the same through suggestion
drop boxes placed at all units. HR departments collect these suggestions and routes them to the safety
department for review. Following such a review the safety department identifies root causes and works
with the concerned plant to implement corrective and preventive measure. Employees making valuable
suggestions are awarded to promote greater involvement of employees in this programme.
The safety department conducts audits at units to identify strengths and weaknesses of the current
system, identify risks of personal injury, and promote employee participation and morale. The scope of
the audit also includes proper and safe use of equipment and of PPEs by employees.
Achieving Safety Excellence
At JSPL we believe in prioritising safety and health of our people and incorporating this as a value.
Safety is embedded across the organisation and is an integral part of how we conduct our business. It
is our continuous effort to make it an ever safe place. In the past years effective implementation of
the safety policy at all levels so as to achieve zero harm was the aim. World class technology along
with highest safety standards accounts for basic business ethics.
Challenge
Conventionally, safety is considered to be focused on equipment, housekeeping, tools, machinery
guarding and as a responsibility limited to the safety department. Though this forms the foundation
for achieving safe working conditions and a safe workplace, safety cannot be limited to this. At JSPL,
we have put in place a robust system for safety management through Occupational Health and Safety
Policy, standard operating procedures, instructions, safe methods of work, work permit system etc.
However, in spite of these system and procedures, injuries have still happened at work. It was
realised that safety performance levelled out after a while and employees had a tendency to revert
back to old practices. For example, a tool-box talk illustrating correct handling techniques will
result in correct techniques on the day of the talk; however, over time employees have a tendency to
revert to earlier practices. These highlighted the need for reinforcing correct procedures and bring
about a change in behaviour.
Solution
There are various reasons for unsafe behaviour – varying from pressure on production leading to
compromised safety, use of short-cuts (as they are easier, simpler and save time), because of stress,
fatigue and distraction, and also due to lack of supervision. These issues can be reduced, if not
completely eliminated, by building a culture of safety. It has also been observed that effective
safety culture can help in improving overall operational costs and efficiency of operations through
reduced incidents.
At JSPL, we have recently started to improve on our safety culture by building on a culture of
safety. This is driven by was on transforming the employees by introducing them to behavioural safety
education, training and practices. The emphasis was on continuously strengthening safety culture in
the organization through behaviour-based safety observation and feedback processes. Observations
provide direct and measurable information on an employee’s safe work practices. Therefore a
system of reporting near misses and unsafe acts is also in place. Employees / contractors who observe
and unsafe act are encouraged to report the same through the suggestion scheme drop box at all units.
Respective HR department collects these suggestions and routes it to the safety department for their
review. The safety department reviews the suggestions received and decides on the root cause. The
department works with the respective plant to implement the corrective and preventive action to
prevent any unsafe act. After the review, if the suggestion is found to be valuable, the observer is
also awarded to promote greater involvement from the employees. The safety department conducts audits
at units to identify strengths and weaknesses of the current system, identify risks of personal
injury, and promote employee participation and morale. The scope of the audit also includes proper and
safe use of equipment and use of PPEs by employees. In case of employees using equipment without PPEs,
the employees are issued warnings and memo letters. Counselling of the respective employees is
conducted, by safety officers, which may be followed by safety trainings.
Behavioural safety at JSPL is driven through three key steps:-
- Demonstrating OHS commitment and defining how we want to excel in safety performance: This is done
through formal and informal communication regarding OHS. To achieve this effective communication, we
have ensured that all our management systems have incorporated strong OHS values and are written and
communicated in a manner that is accessible to all staff, as seen in business management manuals,
visual symbols and objects and communications initiated by the OHS Head. The OHS Head further drives
organizational safety values and accountabilities by asking senior management during meetings to
indicate how they have displayed their commitment to safety. At Patratu - Monthly Mass Safety
Meeting” by all Department Heads are carried out in their respective departments in which they
address their staff at shop floor/sites and encourage them to adopt safety norms while execution of
daily work. Active employees are being rewarded on the spot for promoting safe work culture. This
step had impacted a lot in improving the awareness level of employees by positive transformation in
their behaviour.
- Developing understanding amongst the employees and influencing them to adopt correct practices:
Trainings and awareness sessions are conducted to update employees about the key safety related
risks and opportunities for improvement. Employees are, also, awarded for identifying unsafe acts /
practices / hazards. At Barbil - A subtotal of 24 numbers of class room training programs including
one seminar (external) was conducted with 614 employees. On the job trainings have been conducted.
Overall across the group employees have undergone the trainings on various safety related topics.
- Building an environment that supports and encourages safety behaviour: At JSPL we encourage safety
behaviour and ensure that right safety practices are reinforced regularly. This involves experience
and knowledge sharing by the trainers as well as the employees during meetings. In these meetings,
each employee participates and shares his part of ideas and suggestions or lacking’s that
could be improvised. Safety practices such as mock drills are also conducted once every quarter.
Although improving OHS is a shared responsibility, the demonstrated commitment of supervisors and
reinforced safe behaviour for employees is vital to improving OHS. JSPL has embarked on this journey
of improving safety performance through behavioural based safety initiatives. We encourage all
employees to be our partners in making JSPL a leader in OHS performance, by greater commitment to
safety.
