If your belt buckle is feeling a little tight it is most likely the result of too many Christmas delights. The New Year presents an opportunity for us all to make changes.
In addition to cutting back on calories, boardrooms and site managers can continue to cut back on bad safety practices.
The story of 2015 is yet to be written and, by instilling good process safety standards atop of your organisation, we can make the following 12 months our safest yet.
Here’s a few suggestions for your New Year’s Resolution list:
1# Process safety: lead by example
Leadership is essential in developing a positive process safety culture. The apple never falls far from the tree, so it is imperative that boardrooms sound positive safety tones which echo across the whole of the organisation from directors, to site managers, to operators.
The operation must then work as a collective body to ensure safety remains atop of the agenda, rolling out effectively implemented and robustly maintained systems.
2# Work hard to make the regulator happy
The Health and Safety Executive placed a renewed focus on process safety during the past 24 months with a tightening of regulations. So, whilst industry should be applauded for its efforts thus far, we still have much to do.
3# Roll out a dedicated programme of training
There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect health and safety procedure. Companies must therefore regularly evaluate their safety culture and performance, continually improving resources to enhance key skills and knowledge around process safety.
Making profit is important, but safety is crucial. After all, a process will be further delayed by an avoidable accident.
4# Start each day by asking: are we doing enough?
The high hazard sector is, for the most part, a safe one and we are to be proud that the majority of companies work hard to ensure the safety of their site, staff and surrounding communities.
Whilst incidents such as Buncefield are rare, rare doesn’t mean extinct. Catastrophic events can be prevented if we shift our focus to prevention rather than reaction. Learning from incidents such as the Buncefield blast means we can create and implement process safety strategies designed to avoid recurrences.
5# Become more sociable
Organisations must break down corporate barriers and engage in process safety knowledge sharing with each other.
Some sites already do. Others, however, are less receptive. Those who sit on this side of the fence are often motivated by competitive protectionism – a fear of trade secrets being leaked, clouding otherwise better judgment.
We therefore need a culture change at the boardroom level to accelerate an industry-wide drive to prevent and mitigate major incidents. The idea is simple: in addition to learning from past incidents or ‘near misses’ at a company’s own site, industry leaders should talk to each other about their own experiences.
Resolving to make 2015 the year of health and safety
With 2015 upon us, we can now truly turn this talk into action, rolling out programmes of continual improvement from the top of our organisations.
Your New Year’s Resolution list should be personal to you, tailored to the needs of your site. Start by asking what you’ve already done. What’s working? What needs improvement? Are there any gaps and what more can we do during the year ahead?
Studies show that 90% of resolutions are broken within two weeks of the New Year. So let’s show the world that we mean business and lead by example.
After all, decisions made at a boardroom level are felt across the whole of an organisation and must therefore shore up safety on the ground.
