admin 
Foreword
Construction continues to be the second largest employment provider in India, just after agriculture. Due to its inherent linkage with other sectors, its contribution is nearly 7.9% of total GDP, which is very significant. Based on information available in the public domain, around 53 million people are engaged in construction activities across India and, by 2030, India is expected to be the third largest construction market globally.
Various past studies have revealed that even in industrialized countries, construction remains an extremely dangerous occupation. Construction workplaces keep changing, almost daily due to the inherent nature of construction activities, thus posing serious hazards to employees and workmen alike. We believe that inherent activity-related risks/hazards such as working at height, casual attitude, ignorance, exposure to inclement weather, required skill sets, poor literacy levels and the like can be mitigated by involving individuals with active management support.
As we scale up to accept new challenges in the fiercely competitive global arena, a high standard of safety will be a key differentiator. To take up the challenge, we have to make constant systematic and sustainable efforts to develop and strengthen SAFETY aspects in our operations.
For a sustainable business model, construction should be planned and carried out in a socially responsible manner, augmenting tenets of health and safety at various phases including engineering, procurement and execution.
Taking cognizance of the data on types of accidents in the Indian industry, of the 130 deaths every single day due to occupational accidents across various sectors, 38 occur in the construction sector alone! Each precious human life lost impacts not only the families but the society as well. The only way to stop this agonizing loss is to constantly develop and upgrade our systems and procedures as well as competency of all team members to make the EHS process more robust and to institutionalize best practices.
For a sustainable business model, construction should be planned and carried out in a socially responsible manner, augmenting tenets of health and safety at various phases including engineering, procurement and execution. A strong safety culture is a key element to attain global benchmarking of socially sustainable construction that can only be realized through collaborative efforts of all stakeholders including industry, academia, government and the public at large.
Managing safety well commences with leadership commitment and involvement. MMH has adopted the strategies of ‘VISION ZERO’ in 2017 to align its efforts to achieve international standards in Safety. This has enabled in the smooth up-gradation of our Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, certification from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001:2018 as well as recertification towards the revised ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Standard.
Our business processes must proactively align with occupational safety and health standards in line with the good practices of global corporations in the EPC space. At MMH, we have adopted a structured approach towards the improvement of safety compliance through individual objective setting to inculcate the importance of safety in one’s life. While such objective setting makes an individual more responsible and vigilant for his acts, it also demonstrates the management’s commitment towards the safety and occupational health of its employees, and for the company at large.
Over the years, several internal initiatives have been taken up for safety cultural transformation, which is instrumental in improving our collective commitment across our operations, in India and abroad. We need to further strengthen these efforts to match with the global eco-system and establish our prominence in the international market. As we proceed, this would require adoption of innovative methods and application of advanced technologies like digitalization, artificial intelligence, Building Information Modelling (BIM), etc. We believe in making Safety ‘live through digitalization to create a safe eco system in every project location.
As we move forward, implementation of BIM would help project visualization, hazard identification, efficient scheduling and improvement in safety. Soon, this will enable us to migrate from labour-intensive to equipment intensive operations to reduce exposure of workers to hazards.
This invariably includes workmen repository, awareness through e-learning, app-based work permits and checklists, workmen tracking (restricted entry to unsafe zones), sensors / gas detectors and beacons, online incident reporting and real time feedback to top management.
It is imperative that during the initial engineering stage, the constructability and ease of installation is given paramount importance. Accordingly, the design needs to address modularisation of work in order to increase groundwork, reduce work at heights and exposure to adverse weather conditions/environment. As we move forward, implementation of BIM would help project visualization, hazard identification, efficient scheduling and improvement in safety. Soon, this will enable us to migrate from labourintensive to equipment intensive operations to reduce exposure of workers to hazards.
A committed approach and the adoption of new technological solutions will help us to standardize processes, improve overall quality of the products and services rendered and thereby drastically reduce unsafe acts that result in Loss of Time and Cost.
Workmen are key to the success of any project. Enhancement of their skill sets, job specific training and recognition will lead to more motivated workmen thereby creating a safer work environment.
A committed approach and the adoption of new technological solutions will help us to standardize processes, improve overall quality of the products and services rendered and thereby drastically reduce unsafe acts that result in Loss of Time and Cost.
Adoption of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for safety violation is very important to effectively deal with these deviations and minimize recurrence. A structured approach towards ‘consequence management’ can play a pivotal role in this matter, establishing a culture of compliance.
Let us all take a resolve to adopt Safety as a core value, which is non-negotiable.