A safe working environment is the cornerstone of a successful business.
But frequent fire tragedies in the RMG industry in Bangladesh have grabbed our attention.
Recently, the Bangladesh government, BKMEA, BGMEA, and other international organisations have been trying desperately to ensure development of the RMG sector. But, the question is, do RMG manufacturers really think about the safety culture?
Due to a lack of general understanding and violation of compliance issues, safety management sometimes goes to the dogs and so, the nurturing of a safety culture is the need of the hour.
According to OSHA: “Safety culture consists of shared beliefs, practices, and attitudes that exist in an establishment. Culture is the atmosphere created by those beliefs, attitudes, etc which shape our behavior.”
Therefore, it is the combination of a high level of safety beliefs, values, and attitudes that are shared by the majority of people within the company or workplace. Stellar leadership and management’s commitment are directly related to safety performance.
Here, a safety culture is not merely a collection of policies and programs such as Accident Prevention Program (APP), Injury and Illness Prevention programs, Personal Protective Equipment programs (PPE), and ergonomic programs.
These tools can be significant components of a safety culture because these can help to reduce workplace risk and also to ensure regulatory compliance.
But, these tools alone do not make a safety culture.
According to recent studies, workplace-related disasters commonly occur due to the frequent collapse of an organisation’s policies and procedures and so, the breakdown flows from inadequate attention being paid to safety issues.
A good safety culture can be promoted by senior management commitment to safety by the demonstration of realistic practices for handling hazards and applying organisational learning for ensuring hazard-free working environment.
Though behaviour is the root of a safety culture, it does not materialise overnight in Bangladesh.
Education to the rescue
Education is the precondition of changing human behaviour. The goal is getting the individual to stop doing some things and start doing other things. But some people are resistant to change, as they prefer doing their jobs in a traditional way, even if it does not work out.
The behaviour-based safety concept was developed by HW Heinrich in the 1930s and 1940s. Heinrich researched hundreds of insurance reports. According to a study, almost 90% of industrial accidents could be attributed to employees.
The workers who were causing accidents could have inherited certain traits, causing them to be more accident prone. So, it is mandatory to observe and change worker behaviour to rectify this problem.
12 things to remember
An effective safety culture consists of commonly recognised core elements such as: Management’s commitment to safety, treatment as an investment not a cost, blame-free working environment, job satisfaction, training, equipment and information for all, organisational commitment, worker involvement, co-worker support, a system for hazard prevention and control, personal accountability, and celebrating successes.
But safety and health do not exist in a vacuum, and so we need a unique safety culture with a philosophy to permeate the daily activities of an organisation and also to have a significant contribution to changing employee attitudes and behaviours in relation to workplace safety.
A sustainable safety culture is long overdue
Therefore, the concept of a safety culture is innovative thinking, to ensure a 100% compliant RMG sector in Bangladesh.
Sometimes, strict laws and regulations discourage practices that value production over safety. Here, we need to represent the shared beliefs, attitudes, norms, and work practices of employees and management, as every employee plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of other employees.
Teamwork can save lives
A safety culture requires a team approach and a proactive attitude. If we can weave the concept of safety into our company’s mission, policies, and procedures, it will go a long way towards establishing a sustainable safety culture.
Organisations with a better safety culture will see fewer workplace accidents and injuries.
Safety culture is based on the safety performance of an organisation. As employees are accustomed to a particular set of workplace practices, it is typically challenging to promote a change.
It is often described as the “personality” of an organisation; it includes the ways in which safety issues are addressed in the workplace and a business does things to ensure the safety of its employees and the workplace structure.
But accidents, incidents, and near misses occur every now and then in our working place due to improper use of equipment, lack of good housekeeping and supervision, inadequate training, poor leadership, ineffective planning, and safety communications.
Therefore, a sustainable safety culture is long overdue, and we must work to create it so as to ensure a hazard-free working environment.
We should bear in mind that if we are alert today, we will be safe tomorrow.
Rana Dutta is an Assistant Deputy Secretary, BKMEA.
