The best leadership is workforce leadership

Engaging workers in health & safety
initiatives is increasingly proving key to their
success .Neal Stone explains why this
approach is proving a winning formula for
the 2012 Olympic Development project

In our pursuit of healthy and safe
workplaces we rightly concentrate on
the need for clear policies, effective
systems to identify and manage the risk of
injury and ill health, and the presence of
skilled, competent practitioners to advise,
guide, and train managers and workers.

What we often overlook is the importance of
engaging all workers and actively involving
them in taking responsibility for identifying
and dealing with health and safety risks.

But, this is easier said than done; regrettably
many workers across all sectors still view
health and safety as someone else’s
responsibility or as an issue that does not
impact on them, or their workplace, directly.

The various projects that form part of
the construction of the London 2012
Olympic Park are marked by a guiding
philosophy of getting all of the workers to
buy in to playing their part in identifying
and managing risks to their own and their
co-workers health and safety. Why is it
that much is talked of effectively engaging
the workforce but the evidence of
successful approaches is thin on the
ground? Can you have soundly managed
health and safety without active workforce
involvement? The evidence says not.

HSE has identified three components
that are vital to the successful delivery of
the strategy, “The health and safety of
Great Britain” – leadership, workforce
involvement and competence. But,
leadership is not the sole preserve of
directors and managers and what is
crystal clear is that we need more workers
to take responsibility and themselves
provide leadership.

There will undoubtedly be some
readers who feel that the cost of
embedding a positive safety culture is a
step too far, particularly in a time of
tough economic conditions. But the
consequences of not embedding positive
safety behaviour could be much more
costly – in financial and human terms – to
the injured worker and the business.

In Great Britain in 2008/09, the rate of
major injury across all industry sectors was
105.1 per 100,000 employees. In
construction, although the rate of major
injuries has steadily fallen over the last ten
years to 254.1 per 100,000 employees, the
rate remains the highest of any main
industry group and is almost two-and-a-half
times the overall average across all industries.

So far, the major accident injury rate
across the London 2012 projects is not
only far lower than the construction
sector rate but far lower too than the rate
of major injury across all industries. This
achievement is down to the entire
London 2012 workforce.

‘Near miss’ reporting is positively
encouraged across all of the Olympic
projects. There is abundant evidence from
across the various projects that the
completion of ‘near miss’ reporting cards
has become the norm rather than the
exception. Workers not reporting ‘near
misses’ are routinely challenged by their
colleagues about why they are not
supporting the system and protecting the
safety of their colleagues.

Support breeds confidence
Individual workers awareness of what
constitutes a risk of injury has increased
as has their confidence to report accidents
and ‘near misses’ knowing that they will
get management support if the job, as a
consequence, has to be stopped for safety
reasons. Examples also abound of
incentivising reporting with some
contractors having award schemes for
vigilant individuals reporting ‘near misses’
and others exemplifying corporate social
responsibility with local charities
benefiting financially from rewarding
‘near miss’ reporting.

There is clear evidence from the various
Olympic Park construction projects that
heightened workforce awareness of risk and
a culture that encourages open and accurate
reporting of accidents and ‘near misses’,
including prompt remedial action, does have
a positive impact on the accident frequency
rate. It may appear illogical that increased
near miss reporting can and is accompanied
by a reduced frequency of accidents but the
evidence is clear – identifying and effectively
dealing with the causes of the ‘near misses’ is
in all workers interests and is key to making
construction workplaces safer.

Recognising success
In 2009, I had the privilege to chair the
adjudication panel for the Olympic Delivery
Authority’s (ODA) first ever Health, Safety
and Environment Awards and had the
opportunity to see up close the difference
that an engaged and supportive workforce
makes to the achievement of well managed
health and safety. What impressed the judges
was that all of the entrants for the awards
demonstrated not only a whole-hearted
commitment to creating a safe and
healthy working environment across all of
the London 2012 Olympic projects but
steadfastly applied that commitment to their
performance, day-in, day-out.

Huw Preece, a ganger with Barhale
Construction, was the worthy winner of
the ODA’s 2009 Worker of the Year
Award. Huw’s work – although perhaps
lacking the glamour usually associated
with the Olympics (he was working on
the Olympic site’s foul drainage and
pumping station) was marked by passion,
vigour and enthusiasm. He communicated
this to his colleagues, not just through
words but in his day-to-day actions,
inspiring safe working practices.

Huw played a key role in securing the
commitment of his colleagues to drive safety
improvements and achieve the very highest
standards of health and safety. Colleagues
paid tribute to Huw for speaking out to
ensure safe working and when necessary
stopping work to address safety issues.

Awards as the ODA’s SHE awards have
a vital role to play in helping to publicise
best practice and share the wealth of
knowledge that is being developed which
has relevance far beyond construction.