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By increasing its focus on occupational health, HR doesn't just maintain an important responsibility. It can realise a number of important benefits for the organisation as a whole.
As well as reducing costs and the risks of significant compensation claims, improving health and safety can have an immediate effect on employee turnover and absenteeism. It reduces the number of accidents, which can flow into increased productivity. A well-planned and visible health and safety programme can also strengthen an organisation's corporate image with both investors and the wider community.
Tackling employee safety
Launching Singapore's first industry-driven Trainee Safety Advisor Programme for the engineering and construction sector, Shell Eastern Petroleum hopes to fill its rising demand for safety advisers. Fortunately, with more than 2000 applicants for the initial training course, the potential supply is as high as demand. After a comprehensive assessment process, Shell chose 87 trainees to complete the initial year's program and hopes to have 60 advisers ready for deployment at the end of this year.
Simon Lam, Venture Director, Shell Eastern Petroleum, says ensuring worker safety is the main reason for creating the program. "We recognised that there is a pressing need to have more trained safety professionals in the construction industry. Ultimately, we hope to address this shortage and raise overall safety standards at work, thereby promoting an improved safety culture in Singapore."
Initiating the program has had an immediate effect on Shell's own safety standards. "We have 87 highly motivated and well-trained professionals at our construction sites. The trainees are now fully involved in the daily safety supervision of the project and they play key roles in the project, representing a significant addition to our workplace safety capabilities," says Lam.
Challenges to implementation
Building a quality safety course from scratch isn't easy. Shell engaged Safety@Work, a consultancy, to develop 120 classroom-learning modules for the new program. According to Lam, the challenge of creating the modules was followed by the challenge of choosing who should be trained. "We had to make hard selection choices," he says. "More than 2,000 applications were received and the quality of people applying gets better with each batch.
"Our first batch of 30 was selected from 800 applicants, of which 200 were invited for interviews. These interviews are key to the selection process as we are looking for people with the right attitude and motivation."
Finding experienced safety staff to mentor the trainees is an essential element to the program and Shell is finding that there are many committed people coming forward for a chance to help it realise its safety ambitions.
Championing safety
Organisations can make health and safety part of their DNA by reinforcing such ideals in their general business principals, "We ensure there is continuous effort with strong involvement of management and the line and believe that our health, safety, security and environmental standards cannot be compromised," Lam says. "Our contractors and partners are liable to uphold them as well,"
He believes any organisation can follow a similar path, particularly if it heeds the following tips:
- Senior management must be personally involved and lead by example. Companies should see it as their fundamental responsibility to put health and safety as the foremost consideration in business. This requires continuous efforts and strong involvement of management and the line.
- Don't see safety measures as additional expenses. Having a safe and healthy workforce can benefit businesses as it can avoid economic losses from work stoppages or increased operating costs.
- Be innovative and creative when communicating to staff. Encourage them to make a personal pledge or commitment to improve safety standards.
- Don't make assumptions when it comes to your employees' health and safety. Look carefully at the statistics and look at what areas you need to strengthen.
- Singapore actively looks to encourage health and safety in the workplace. Contact the different agencies to see what schemes are available to help your company be a leader in workplace health and safety.
Happiness is:
Over the last decade, the number of working days lost to stress and depression has steadily increased. These issues now account for 43% of the total days lost in Singapore. But while stress is now a major factor in employees calling in sick, a survey by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) shows that only 16 % of companies have programs addressing the mental wellbeing of staff. Most organisations prefer to focus their health programmes on exercise, fitness and nutrition.
With depression on the rise, making mental wellness a priority is essential for HR. But the prospects of tackling it need not add to the problem. Experts advise HR professionals to keep themselves informed and involved with mental health programmes. According to their tips, HR needs to:
Get informed. Depression is an illness, not a personality flaw. In Asia, mental illness is slowly being acknowledged. HR can help by reading about depression and tapping into local experts to make sure managers and supervisors become knowledgeable as well.
Pay attention. Is someone constantly blue or missing work? Have you noticed a serious drop in productivity in any of your staff? Look for signs that disrupt your operations, and determine if depression could be the source. Learn the symptoms of depression so that you are able to be proactive, instead of reactive.
Talk to your employees. If you believe they might be suffering from depression, open up a discussion on the issue. HR should note its observations and express concern. It should allow employees time to explain and be sure to keep things confidential.
Be flexible. A depressed employee might need extra time away from the office, or even a leave of absence. HR should make sure it has a prescribed policy in place, which can allow for reassigning work and following up on any unfinished projects.
Physical safety. People suffering from depression may not focus on their physical safety as much. So HR should be aware of circumstances that may lead to an accident.
Look for stressors. Your company environment could be contributing to an employee's depression. Have an honest assessment of your organisation and determine if there is something that can be changed.