Page 13 - October 2019

HEALTH AND SAFETY IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY
our colleagues work safely and go home health and safety performance.
safe to their families every day. For our The Health and Safety Executive
colleagues, our ‘just culture’ means recently stated that our leadership in
everyone working for Wales & West health and safety is exemplary, and we
Utilities is encouraged to take personal recognise that we have leaders in health
responsibility for their actions. and safety at every level. But it is not just
More recently, having succeeded at about having excellent leaders, it is about
reducing site-based physical injuries, leading excellent people who themselves
our activity has had to stretch beyond lead by example for the benefit of their
safe ways of working and tools and peers, customers that rely on us.
We are very clear that health and
Having succeeded at equipment to address new challenges, safety is everyone’s responsibility and
like fatigue and wider societal issues
reducing site-based physical including mental health. Additionally, that everyone must be accountable
injuries, our activity has driving – something the vast majority for their actions. For the engineers
had to stretch beyond safe of our team do every day – has become working on our network every day, this
ways of working and tools another area of focus. means they have the right to challenge
While these are different issues,
anything they perceive as unsafe, while
and equipment to address we intend to address them in the our health and safety team is visible
new challenges, like fatigue same way as we have done with and accessible, regularly coaching,
and wider societal issues more traditional health and safety supporting and undertaking site
challenges; combining targeted action
inspections and audits to make sure our
including mental health as an organisation with encouraging management system remains effective
all our colleagues to take personal at reducing risk.
responsibility for health and safety. Cable strikes are a perfect example
So while we’ve been very successful, of where this twin track approach has
make – and that applies to everyone, with a great record and a trophy cabinet delivered success. Annually, we now
from the most senior leaders to full of awards, we’re not complacent or have fewer cable strikes than we did
colleagues on the front line. resting on our laurels. We have been monthly when we started operations
Earlier this year, we achieved the on quite a journey, with milestones in 2005. This hasn’t been an easy
Royal Society for the Prevention of marked by successive ROSPA awards task. Our just culture means holding
Accidents (ROSPA) Gold Award for the and we will continue on this journey, colleagues to account for their actions
sixth successive year, in recognition with a refreshed and renewed focus, where they have fallen short of what
of our industry-leading performance spearheaded by our internal Road to is expected of them. The relevant
and commitment. We were also named Zero safety campaign. sanctions – from one-to-one coaching to
as a winner in the oil & gas industry structured performance improvement
sector and shortlisted for the coveted Best practice plans – are as much a part of a just
Sir George Earle Trophy at ROSPA’s Our Road to Zero campaign runs all year culture as being recognised for good
annual awards. This independent round, and is something that is endorsed performance.
accreditation is not only industry- and led by the most senior engineers
leading, it’s world-leading too. in our business. Our operational Data-driven intervention
Improving our safety performance management team individually sign While Road to Zero is a year-
is something that came into greater a pledge to evidence their personal round campaign, we have targeted
focus after we were set up as an commitment to leading health and interventions in those areas where our
independent network in 2005. As safety by example. This may seem data suggests we have issues.
an industry, our record up until that rather basic and quite quaint to some, Historically, we had challenges in
time was good, but still left significant but their signature is more than just the winter. It is our busiest time of the
scope for improvement. a signature. It’s a statement that says year, with workload driven by increased
Since then, we’ve focused on safe they will lead by example, supporting emergency work and the delivery of
ways of working and invested in tools, and encouraging engineering the replacement programmes targets.
equipment and training to make sure all colleagues to keep improving our It was during this period that lost time

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