Make safety a boardroom issue, expert says

Safety initiatives need to be driven at board level, says expert

RELATED ARTICLES: Good safety, good sense |  Top turnout for working at height conference | Safety gets front seat with evac chairs

Health and safety needs to enter the boardroom and increase transparency if it is going to help transform the construction industry for the better, according to a leading expert.
 

Speaking yesterday at the ‘ConstructionWeek: Building at Height... Safely’ conference in Dubai, Wayne Harris, HSE director of Qatar Project Management and board director of the World Safety Organization, said that safety is often overlooked by many organisations at top level discussions and faces uncertainty over funding in the midst of cut backs during the global recession.

“Safety systems are generally the same as 20 years ago,” he told the audience. “There’s still a very common approach from companies in developing HSE management systems and training programmes, this now needs to change
 

"However, there’s a general concern in the industry that HSE is still seen as stand-alone, and that it is not quite incorporated at the top level. In many company board meetings HSE might be talked about for around 20 seconds, then it is finished, followed by one hour on HR, evidence would suggest that HSE is still not a significant part of corporate governance."
 

Safety will therefore have to become more transparent and more relevant if it is to get management “buy-in” – including a move away from the traditional prescriptive style of safety. “The simple fact is that, globally, those in HSE have very little say in board meetings as to the design of HSE and its impacts on an organisations profitability and success."
 

He added that monitoring of health and safety in terms of company accident statistics and analysis was often found wanting. By mainly recording lagging indicator it will not give a true status of HSE performance and organisations need to start using leading indicators based on risk ratings.
 

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

Harris suggested that in future an increased attendance of CEOs and managing directors at safety conferences might create an eventual breakthrough. Otherwise health and safety remains at the mercy of company cuts, he said, despite the overall cost of a damaged reputation to a company should accidents occur.
 

He closed by pointing to a positive trend whereby client organisations are now looking at incorporating commercial and contractual requirements for safety, including imposing financial penalties where contractors will have no choice but to put safety measures in place.