Advancing Good Practices in H&S at the Corporate Level

EU – US 4th OSH Conference

September 14-16, 2005

EU Perspectives: Paper Neal Stone UK HSE

• Used as introductory thought starters– Gaps in “excellence industry and daily reality

of management”– Agenda for good practices session will focus

on real life examples

• Much existing guidance and research• Management practices alone not sufficient

for outstanding safety performance – must engage and involve workers

Perspectives Paper (cont.)

• Core elements:– Top level leadership– Information sharing– Active involvement of workforce– Effective management systems– Effective performance monitoring

• Integration of safety and social responsibility– Applies to public and voluntary sectors in addition to

companies• Perspectives highlighted examples of excellent

research based on hard evidence of good practice

Advancing Good Practices: Opening Remarks – Frank White

• We know how to achieve zero incidents – ID, manage and control risks

• Many guidelines, documents provide guidance; ILO, OHSAS 18001, ANSI Z10

• Big challenge in management system approach is achieving continuous improvement

Octel Corp Case Study

• Richard Shone: VP SHE• 1998: poor safety & reputation with

declining main product (TEL)– Overloaded on SHE initiatives

• First hesitant steps– Line management ownership– New SHE policy– Belief “if you can’t manage safety, you can’t

manage anything else”

Octel

• Good start, but…..many issues had to be worked in parallel:– Policy / standards audit– Basis of safety programme– Workforce engagement– Competency training– Stakeholder involvement– Communication – top down / bottom up– Reporting systems

Octel Benefits

• Zero lost time accidents• No significant incidents• 40% reduction in production costs• Absenteeism reduced 10 % to 2.5%• Improved community trust / reputation• Corporate culture has changed……

– Expanding business in 21 countries

• Culture change came from within

Discussion Framework• Questions of good practice “whats” vs. “why”

and motivation• What are drivers for and against good practice?

– Struggle going on profits vs. SHE practice

• Should shareholder value take a broader view than just near term economics– H&S principles may create tension with outside

drivers and economics

• Must link with trade unions and have relevance for small and medium enterprise

• Goal is influencing leader behavior & changing paradigm

Discussion Framework

• How can the outside world make it easier for companies to change

• Worker involvement, competency / training are key to safety performance

• Need to link and integrate with other functions• H&S management /culture change needs to

come from within• Message needs to come from other leaders –

become public leaders to help change norms

Good H&S Practice goes hand-in-hand with Leadership and Culture Change

Motivator First Early Keep Business External Continual Steps Steps Walkin’ System Focus Improvement

Changes

Motivators

• Most important driver may be industry itself : – Industry leaders hear from peers– industry associations raising the bar– Big companies can push small companies (e.g. ISO

9000 and14000)– Contractor relationship/contracts

• regional trade unions also play important role– Awareness– outreach

Motivators • Government can assist

– Simplify regulation– Useful tools like control banding– Consultation / outreach– Establish public debate with social partners– Inspect the bad guys until they become good guys– Companies are willing to help other companies

• need network forum and support for such a structure

• Insurance companies / worker’s comp can be motivators– Economic value– Funds pooled for training

Motivators

• Using one simple measure of injury rate may drive some to use simplistic approach– E.g. liability

• Motivator can be good or bad

• Need a viable metric / norms but none accepted universally– Lack of empirical data

First Steps……

• It begins with leadership– Commitment – signed charter / policy– Analyze issues and risk– Set measurable goals– Public acknowledgement that status quo not

satisfactory – what management is now striving for

– Foundation and commitment for continuous improvement

First Steps….

• Commitment from every level of organization – Measurable accountability

• Effective communication to entire workforce– Build foundation of trust

• Define training needs• Change paradigm to a culture of prevention

– Find solutions for prevention

Early Steps….• Engage workforce / worker representatives• Resource allocation to implement policy• Roles and responsibilities defined

– Empowerment / engagement of all employees and worker representatives

– Accountability – Champions for change

• Training (competency, OHS, management system)• Measure progress to goals• Find pockets of excellence – internal benchmark• Integration of H&S into existing business processes• Continue to build trust

Keep Walking…..

• Systematically and regularly monitor / audit with involvement of workers– What works? What doesn’t work? What needs to be improved or

changed?

• Address new issues, hazards, new members of workforce

• Engage / liaison with relevant external stakeholders• Share success stories• Demonstrate business value• Build system capability• Top management: on-going visible leadership of H&S

process

Keep Walking…..

• Integrate contractor / supplier issues• External Benchmarking • Formal and candid employee feedback

– E.g. perception surveys

• Continue to build trust• Recognize / encourage positive performance• Invest in H&S good practices as necessary

Business System Changes

• Technical hardware systems

• Management systems

• Train managers and employees in new system

See nextslide

Accident Plateau

Management Systems

Technology

Human Factors

Accident Rate

Time

Externalize

• Use political and peer influence

• Contractor and supplier arrangements

• Take H&S leadership public leadership role

• Cross country consistency of H&S good practice

• H&S is a means of demonstrating social responsibility

Continual Improvement

• Emulate quality processes for • Formal review

– ID gaps in system– ID opportunities for improvement

• Compare performance to benchmark• Involve employees / employee representatives• Benchmark to industry leaders• Reinforce culture of prevention and improvement

of working environment

Making it Happen…….

• Engage leaders• Transparency of performance data for general

public• Develop assessment tool / methodology to help

organizations assess where they are• Provide support and opportunities for networking

and collaboration • Establish expectations for good performance

• Integrate H&S within other risk management issues / functions / concepts

Good H&S Practice goes hand-in-hand with Leadership and Culture Change

Motivator First Early Keep Business External Continual Steps Steps Walkin’ System Focus Improvement

Changes

Engage Data Assessment Networking Expectations IntegrateLeaders Trans. Tool

OrganizationLevel

NationalLevel

ContinuedJoint EU-USOSH Efforts