Worker health and safety management a fundamental priority for LafargeHolcim

Creating and maintaining a safe work environment for its employees is deeply entrenched in Holcim’s culture. As a member of the LafargeHolcim Group, Holcim (Lanka) Ltd. remains committed to health and safety as a core value that touches every aspect of its operations.

During a recent visit to Sri Lanka, Head of Health and Safety, Asia-Pacific, LafargeHolcim, Alan Michener discussed cultural and behavioural initiatives necessary in creating a company-wide ownership of safety.

Commenting on the all-encompassing nature of mandating safety for all, Alan commented: “Safety is important for everyone, everywhere in every context, whether it be in their lives, their livelihoods or with loved ones.”

Alan stressed upon the need for countries to understand and acknowledge the importance of integrating safety into the daily lives of individuals, organisations and cultures. “Travelling around the community, we see it could do with a lot more change in terms of safety. A go-getter attitude towards safety may be hard to cultivate but this will eventually change.”

Alan notes through observation that “as countries improve their standard of living, so does the importance of living longer and enjoying life become apparent. Thus safety becomes vital. In essence, occupational health and safety tends to develop in correlation with the economy. Eventually as Sri Lanka becomes more socially and economically robust, it is inevitable for its safety to improve.”

As observed in other countries, the drive for this transformation usually comes from key stakeholders. These are usually community leaders and major corporations. Legislation is very important, especially when coupled with enforcement, however change can never be effected without community buy-in, Alan noted. “It’s almost impossible for one person to effect change if communities are not willing to accept it and are not willing to adopt the change.”

With communities often hampered by many factors in making these changes, Alan urged companies to lead the way in encouraging change. In his experience he said: “Companies often spearhead and initiate improvements in safety in developing countries. Organisations contribute to a vast range of safety processes and practices which in turn are adopted by the country at large.”

Commenting on the importance of adhering to ‘simple rules’ to reduce risk, Alan cited LafargeHolcim’s health and safety rules. These rules underlie a range of risk-reducing strategies. By following them, all employees, contractors and visitors can increase their own personal safety and that of others dramatically.

LafargeHolcim’s health and safety rules are set out in its Corporate H&S Action Plan. These simple rules are: assess and control risks before starting a task; only perform authorised activities; never override or interfere with any safety provision or allow anyone else to override or interfere with them; wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); do not work if under the influence of alcohol or drugs and report all injuries and incidents.

One of the practices in LafargeHolcim that supports the above mentioned rules and safety generally is the open sharing of incidents. This promotes the understanding of risks and their controls and aids in the prevention of recurrences of such incidents. 

As LafargeHolcim drives the concept of safety further as a value, Alan urges employees and contractors to fully understand and adhere to safety standards. He said: “We try and create an environment where people coming into a workplace will adopt the culture and practices of that workplace and perhaps even improve on the measures already in place. Managers especially must take ownership of safety and impress on all those around them the importance of safety. An approach centred on leadership, accountability and effectiveness of actions is key to making this movement in safety successful.”

Equipped with many years of experience in health and safety management, Alan dispensed safety advice which was intrinsically simple: “When I look at people working, I ask myself ‘would I let my children do that job’? If the answer is ‘no’ then why should I let anybody else do that job? People will take on different levels of risk for themselves and others but not so for their children. Everybody is somebody’s child and everyone deserves the same level of safety.”