Communication, education, and involving the workforce were the three
key messages to come out of the morning plenary session on Day Two of
IOSH 09, which looked at health and safety within emerging markets.
Head of HS&E at global mining company Rio Tinto, Elaine Dorward-King, said that one of its biggest challenges is to overcome language and cultural barriers in the countries in which it operates. She said: “We really need to be able to communicate our health and safety message — not just what we want, but how we want it.” Training and communication, she added, are key to achieving this but she also emphasised the importance of integrated approach at all levels: “In Rio Tinto, health and safety policies are set by the board, which also develops our strategies to address business risk. Leadership is a key element, as are effective management systems.”
Owen Tudor, the TUC’s head of EU and international relations, agreed that cultural and language differences do, of course, exist but while laws and systems may differ human beings do not — things like asbestos exposure and road-traffic accidents affect people in the same horrible way, wherever they are in the world.
He acknowledged the difficulty of laying down what should happen but pointed out that making sure it does happen is even more difficult — not just in terms of how employees operate but also how standards are enforced and monitored throughout the supply chain. Owen explained: “The International Labour Organisation sets down minimum global standards, and these are a good starting point for companies operating, or looking to operate on a global platform. They should require their employees, contractors and supply-chain partners to at least conform to those standards, and to the minimum national standards in place in the particular country.”
What can help organisations achieve all of this, he concluded, is involving the workforce. He said: “The most important piece of equipment in any workplace is present in all of them — the workforce. It is the main tool to operate health and safety in any organisation, anywhere.” Elaine Dorward-King agreed, saying a strong safety culture cannot be achieved without engaging the workforce. She said: “In some parts of the world, people just aren’t accustomed to working as safely as we would like, so we do need to educate and communicate with them.”
Managing director of Link Associates, David Brown, banged the ‘education’ drum, saying that making information available to local communities in the environment in which you are working is the best way to establish sound health and safety arrangements. He said: “It’s all about education — recognising the strengths of those in the environments in which we work.”
David also warned those thinking of branching out to other parts of the world not to assume that there is an absence of a regulatory set-up. He explained: “Don’t go into those countries thinking there is little, or no legal structure. Many places do have fairly sound systems in place. However, it does depend to a large extent on the number and knowledge of the inspectors, so again, education is the issue.”
But sometimes efforts to educate workers can seem like painting the Forth Bridge, given the transient nature of workforces in some parts of the world. Explained David: “The fact that it is rarely a static picture presents difficulties. In places like the Middle East, you have workers coming and going all the time and while those going back to the Indian sub-continent, or wherever, do take the message and a better understanding of risk with them, others are continually taking their place, who have no awareness, and you have to start all over again.”
Conference chair Krishnan Guru-Murthy brought the panel discussion to a close by asking if the ultimate aim of companies operating globally was to hand over control to the local workforce, or to “skill people up”. Elaine Dorward-King said it is a combination of the two: “If we are going to create the environment and culture we want, we need to bring in our own people first, and then train local managers and leaders, who will carry on after the expatriate staff leaves. But this can’t be done overnight — it takes time to find and train the right local leaders.”
Added Owen Tudor: “You have to see workers not just as a factor of production but as receptacles for knowledge. It is up to health and safety practitioners to ensure that this happens and — most important of all — to ensure that the workforce is consulted. It is all about knowing what is actually happening on the shopfloor.”
