Today, 28th April, marks World Day for Health and Safety at Work. Last year, we explored how a healthy and safe working environment can be ensured by actively pursuing and protecting employee wellbeing at work. However, this is just one element of what this day is all about. Safety, both mental and physical, is the duty of employers to protect in their workforce, under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
It is so important that employers champion the physical safety of their employees as safety at work is a huge contributor to sustainability and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 8 calls for ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’. Sustainability involves the increase in availability of decent work for all, in which people’s rights are looked after, including their health and safety. Not only this, but a workforce that operates in safe conditions is more likely to be productive, leading to successful businesses and economic growth.
Sustainability comes, therefore, not just from treating the planet right, but from treating the people right.
We recently spoke to IJM about how they go about ensuring health and safety in their workplace and they told us:
One of IJM’s top priorities is a healthy and safe workplace. We prize creating a workplace in which a preventive occupational safety and health (OSH) culture is embedded and enforced.
To do this, we have created a robust OSH Policy to ensure that all mandatory safety and health measures and controls are in place for smooth, incident-free operations. Each of our five business divisions has its own Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Committees across all locations. All levels of our workforce, business partners, suppliers and subcontractors are contractually bound to implement measures to avoid OSH-induced risks at our workplace. Meanwhile, our leadership and HSE Department keep the bar high with continuous enhancements of our workplace OSH performance, so that collectively we can strive for a high level of health and safety at work.
Our OSH management system is built around risk management processes, to ensure that all activities are carried out safely. We emphasise self-regulation, which involves monitoring and measuring OSH deliverables at our construction projects. We also conduct scheduled site consultations to provide guidance for project staff and workers on how to maintain safety standards and performance. In addition, we have joint management-worker health and safety committees established at the project sites to facilitate the participation of workers from all levels at the OSH spectrum to discuss OSH matters with the management.
All of our projects of the Construction Division, nine ICP factories of the Industry Division and the Port operations are ISO 45001:2018 certified. Their safety and health data are audited and verified by SIRIM, Malaysia’s leading certification, inspection and testing body, to ensure we maintain our high level of safety.
We also implement a range of safety management initiatives that reinforce our safety culture and support our operating philosophy. These exist in the form of safety recognition and fair accountability programmes and leadership engagement. Not only this, but we provide performance coaching and professional development and training programmes, as well as event learning and the sharing of lessons. This way, we can prioritise health and safety in our workforce and embed it in our culture.
Congratulations to IJM for their fantastic work in promoting and ensuring that their workplace is healthy and safe. It is clear to see that when companies, such as IJM, make conscious efforts to look after their workforce, we make positive steps towards sustainability. Whether that is through policy-making or training and initiatives, there are a multitude of ways for companies to ensure that their workplace is a safe environment.
When we look after the people, then we can heal the planet and bring about a better, more sustainable future.
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