It is well-accepted that Safety is the triumph of teamwork; that safety can only be achieved through collective responsibility, with every individual at site, across functions, irrespective of levels, taking the onus to create and sustain a safe culture.

Yet, in the process, there are some stalwarts who keep pushing the bar higher, who drive the EHS agenda harder than others and make EHS their prime focus, for whom Mission Zero Harm is more than just a mission but a passion. We profile some of these EHS Champions who have contributed significantly to help their respective project sites reach the pinnacle of EHS performance by winning the prestigious and most coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ awards.

Here are their stories …

The CIDCO TFL Project Package IV comprises three construction sites and a precast factory. One of the construction packages, CIDCO Bamandongri, has the distinction of winning the Sword of Honour. Did the EHS In-charge, Gopi Krishnan, do something special to achieve this pinnacle of EHS performance? Not really, from his response. “At such a huge project with a build-up area of some 37,00,000 square feet, it was essential to form a committee exclusively for BSC FSA compliance to understand the scope and expectations and draw up a road map with clear cut objectives and action plans to achieve our goal,” he begins with a deep sense of purpose. “We reviewed our action plan daily to monitor the percentage of completion of each objective and a tracking sheet helped us monitor and evaluate the progress of compliance level against each functional head.”

Apart from sharing and adopting international best practices, preparing workmen was a huge challenge to the team due to high attrition levels. Another was to deal with subcontractors and locals who, as Gopi says seriously, “have a huge in-built risktaking appetite, therefore improving their risk perception and reducing their acts of defiance are difficult.” To top all these, for EHS managers, managing the priorities of clients and internal stakeholders, pushing progress, and fulfilling safety processes, is a tough balancing act to follow. “Through rigorous planning, resource allocation and site survey focusing on each area to improve the perfection factor we succeeded,” he says with a thumbs up.

“Without vision nothing is possible,” he states with josh, giving full marks to O V Divakaran, TFL Head, for trusting the team to succeed, giving top priority in resource allocation, and procuring approvals from the top management. “The Project Head and his team demonstrated full commitment and leadership, we received full support from all the function heads from TFL’s office and other project heads, and the site EHS team worked arduously across fronts, right from training, documentation to operational controls. It was a triumph of teamwork,” reaffirms Gopi.

To drive EHS, it is critical to walk the talk

Nitin Rajaram Pingale

Manager (EHS), B&F IC

A veteran of 18 years with L&T having joined the ranks in 2005 at the Tarapur Atomic Power Project, Nitin Pingale is presently successfully driving EHS at the CIDCO Housing Project, Bamandongri that has helped the project win the prestigious ‘Sword of Honour’. “Both my Project Manager and I believe in walking the talk,” he states purposefully.
“In fact, he has his safety objectives written with an action plan, always leads from the front and ensures the wellbeing and everyone’s participation at safety activities.” Nitin is not surprised by this approach because it is part of the L&T culture and ethos. “This is a systems and process driven organisation that values people and the environment with a mission to build the nation.”

Drawing from his rich experience gained from across 11 projects where he has worked, Nitin emphasizes that EHS requirements must be planned right from the beginning of a project after discussions with all the stakeholders during the kick-off meetings. “Integrating them to each and every process and activity of each department and implementing the requirements for employees and staff is critical,” he affirms. “We need to sustain a proactive performance management system, ensure that everyone is above the benchmarks and, most importantly, meet customer satisfaction by obtaining their regular feedback on EHSMS.”

Driving EHS is demanding for Nitin contends with the high attrition rate of trained workmen. “We monitor various types of work – structural, finishing, MEP or infra – simultaneously in 43 towers, setting up and monitoring fall protection systems all across.” It is impossible for just Nitin and his team to drive EHS and he acknowledges the strong, constant, and proactive support of his seniors to improve the site EHS management system. “My seniors believe in teamwork, they participate in all our training programmes, conduct site safety walk arounds, meetings, campaigns and even counsel poor performers.”

Nitin is thankful for the various digital solutions that are continuously improving EHS performance through daily hazard communication and risk control verification. “These various analytical options available as real time data help us to monitor safety performance and identify the needs for improvement, especially the WISA application that has helped us track and monitor the training and competency of workmen.”

At the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Project, Jamshedpur, Manas Ranjan Das worked on identifying and closing gaps promptly and quickly. “I believe in team spirit,” he says, “for it is key to face and overcome hurdles.” The entire project team was aware of the requirements, which won their unwavering support. “A positive attitude and the delegation of authority are critical to accomplish tasks in a formally coordinated way,” he adds.

Prior to the GMCH project, Manas had headed the EHS department at B&F projects such as the Tata Housing Project at Kolkata, ITC MXD Project, Rajarhat Kolkata, Bihar Museum Patna, TCS Kochi, Techno Park Trivandrum, and TCS Siruseri. Work at the GMCH Jamshedpur, a brownfield project being executed alongside a running hospital and college, was tough. “Throughout the project, we faced challenges in traffic management and space constraints,” Manas explains, “not to mention, the risk of operating in a sensitive zone during the pandemic times.”

“At GMCH, we always believe in working as a team,” beams Manas, adding that everyone gave their best thanks to the strong interpersonal relationships that also helped the project bag the Sword of Honour. Bhaskar Das, Project Manager, has driven a positive and optimistic culture at the project, encouraging Manas and team to successfully take on any challenge.

“We are in the Digital Era,” comments Manas, adding that in the present business scenario, deriving the most out of the pool of available data helps in monitoring, decision making, and understanding strengths and weaknesses better. “We are constantly working on setting benchmarks and becoming a role model for others to follow,” he adds with pride.

Alok Tiwari

Assistant Manager (EHS), B&F IC

Not surprisingly, Alok Tiwari is an extremely proud and happy EHS manager, having contributed significantly for his project, the Asset 13 Expansion Project in New Delhi, to win a Sword of Honor, yet his message is down to earth and pragmatic. “Our EHS management systems and processes are both adequate and significant. If you implement them wisely, and more importantly, demonstrate them in true letter and spirit, you can win any award globally, which is exactly what we achieved at our project.”

Playing his second innings at L&T, Alok was associated with three projects in his first tenure – the BMRCL R3a, Dan Hotel, and Shell NTCB Bangalore projects – as EHS Engineer. He also worked on the PMC rolls where L&T was the main contractor for the ACCF Assam and Godrej GCR (Munjal Hospitality), Gurugram, projects. “Keeping up with L&T’s EHSMS and project scenario is challenging, especially to newcomers,” he opines. “There has been an enormous amount of support from the CEHSM Dr. Sanjai Srivastav and Project Director Dinesh Kumar Khatri. They provided timely guidance for maintaining standards at par with the international standards and supported in achieving the best scaffolding standards, temporary electrical systems and plant equipment, workmen welfare, housekeeping, and infrastructure. The team is the backbone of the project and the true winner of this award!”

Digital solutions have helped the Asset 13 project in its quest for EHS glory and Alok is quick to acknowledge it. “These solutions help me diagnose lag and lead indicators in real time while trend analysis helps us to find out grey areas that need to be focused on till they become safe. Digital solutions also help to analyse and understand behaviour, and the attitudes of site engineers toward proactive safety by reviewing their action time on observations, Safe to Start cards and so on. We have transparency in data and the connectivity enables one to access and engage from remote locations,” he elaborates.

On his personal front, Alok hails from the small village of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj District. He is married to Shikha Sharma, who he describes as “a qualified teacher as well as homemaker” and they are blessed with a daughter, one-and-ahalf-year old, Vidhi.
“I love trekking, traveling and photography,” he shares passionately. “I used to travel sometime to pursue my hobby. It is not easy to do with so many commitments, but we manage on weekends to make our work life balance,” he smiles.

“All of us need to understand that Safety is a part of our daily life, and everyone has to realise that safety starts with you and me,” declares Soubhagya Ranjan Das, Assistant Manager EHS at the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium Project at Rourkela, Odisha, and thanks to this focus, he has won his project the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’. Building the world’s largest hockey stadium in just 15 months was a tall order but Project Manager, Sabarish K N Narayanan and his team stuck to their guns and have delivered handsomely. “We followed SOP standard right from Day One, that helped us get excellent results in the internal audits and win this prestigious award,” Soubhagya shares with immense satisfaction.

Teamwork is the key to their success, he affirms, mentioning both Sabarish and Cluster EHS Manager, Sujit Saha. “Not only did they encourage me but gave me complete freedom to implement all the initiatives. At L&T, we are one big family, and our seniors walk the way with us. This achievement would not have been possible without the help of my team members and guidance of my seniors. I want to thank them all from the bottom of my heart.”

The SOPs followed at L&T is an inspiration, he says. “When compared to other competitors in the market, our EHS Culture is very good which is why we are India’s No.1 construction Company,” he smiles proudly. “Living in the era of AI, we need to quickly adopt new changes,” he remarks, referring to several digital solutions like predictive analysis, Safety App, dashboard data to monitor the Site EHS performance score and identify pros and cons that helped them hugely. “We also use the Ib4U App to monitor equipment, power tools and the like.”

Having joined L&T as a DET in 2011, Soubhagya’s first assignment was at the PBEL City Project, Phase-II, Hyderabad, managing a capacity of 800 workmen. For the next six years, he worked as EHS Engineer at various projects in the Hyderabad Cluster before moving to the Kolkata Cluster at the Government Medical Project, Puri, followed by stints at the ITC MXD & Vivek Tirtha projects. Currently, he handles 1,600 workmen at the Rourkela stadium project, where he is on home ground, hailing from Kendrapara in Odisha. A family man, he is married to Monalisa, who is a homemaker. Listening to music and cooking are his favourite pastimes.

B&F IC took over the Phoenix H‑10 Project, Hyderabad – CNCL & HYCL, in the middle of the construction stage and, with it, the task of bringing the project up to L&T standards. “We had challenges with the existing contractors,” begins Kiran Praharaju, EHS In-charge. “All the methodologies and risk assessments were approved prior to our entry, but we were concerned with the work sequence and brought the teams into our fold by implementing our own systems and procedures.”

“The sky is the limit!” exclaims Kiran when asked about his rich 12-year experience at L&T working as an EHSO at various B&F projects. “I can think and do anything for the benefit of the organization.” At the Phoenix H‑10 Project, Kiran and team set the best EHS standards and won the Sword of Honour for their efforts. “All the infrastructure and facilities meet 5S requirements, and we have set high standards in fall prevention and protection,” he explains proudly. The project team has implemented 360° guarding in rotating parts and engineering controls in all hoists & equipment, with a risk rash map at entrances of each building, and portable displays with critical control points. “It’s all about developing an EHS culture,” Kiran adds, “and the team demonstrated it perfectly during the BSC audit.”

Speaking about the challenges of implementing procedures, Kiran reveals that continuous interactions were key. “Communication gaps in controlling simultaneous operations were overcome through strategic meetings, and we streamlined the process with major subcontractors by adhering to the work sequence and sorting out the right method in accessing the location and structural steel transits.”

“We had tremendous support from the Cluster and HQ EHS teams behind the scenes,” recalls Kiran with a broad smile. “Their experience from previous Five Star Audits helped us to meet the benchmarks and reinforced the implementation at site level. Sarat Chand Kotaru, Project Manager, has been actively participating and guiding us continuously and taking the initiative to involve all staff.” It has been an all-round team effort, sums up Kiran.

Just as the DP World FTWZ Project team were preparing for the Sword of Honour audit, they had to shift their site office to outside the premises. “Ensuring that the new office met the FSA requirements was just one of our many challenges,” reveals Vijay Kumar Verma, EHS In-charge.

But the site was well prepared Safety-wise. “We used engineering control and substitution control measures wherever possible,” confirms Vijay, explaining that all MEP and PEB works at height were done using boom and scissor lifts, mobile scaffolds avoided, and double fall protection (retractable fall arrestor) provided for roof sheeting and cladding work.

“We took special initiatives related to chemical safety,” Vijay reveals, “such as using diphoterine and COSHH assessment of each chemical used at site. In addition, FFP3 masks were provided to welders.” The BSC auditing team complimented the team’s scaffolding arrangements, signages, and visual instructions displayed across the site.

Vijay found the BSC experience at the DP World Project just as enriching as an earlier one at a previous site.
“ My in-depth discussions with the auditor on incident and root cause analyses will certainly help me a lot in the future,” he says gratefully.

The key role played by the seniors in winning the Sword of Honour cannot be denied. “Our Project Manager,
Ajay Kumar Sehgal, and all Section In-charges were fully involved, motivating all team members to give their best.”
Site visits from Shailesh Patel, CEHSM; P. Nagarajan, Head – EHS, HRC SBG; Bhupesh Datta, CPM – North & West Factories; and Ashutosh Tripathi, Head – Factories BU, prepared the project team well for the audit. “M. Nachiappan, Senior DGM – EHS, was available during the audit and cleared all the auditors’ doubts,” Vijay adds.

The BSC auditor was impressed with digital initiatives like the EHSMS manual handbook available on all staff phones. “He was especially interested in the quality of inspection and PPE-related violations and wanted to know specifics pertaining to hand gloves, safety goggles, etc. Thankfully, all the data was readily available digitally.”

Effective planning realizes everything

Kumaresan E

Senior Manager (Chemical), EHS, WET IC

Driving EHS at WET projects is no easy matter, he observes. “Irrigation projects are spread across, executed in remote locations like dense forests, and hilly terrains and we could be working at more than 30 locations a day.” The work methodology for all such high-risk activities is prepared considering the hazards involved with site activity and EHS compliance monitored by the staff and EHSO. “Safety is everyone’s responsibility,” says Kumaresan seriously, “and therefore it was important to make even the workmen and subcontractor supervisors responsible for Safety.”

Kumaresan attributes the BSC 5‑star award to his team following the management directive of ‘One Dream, One Team, One Goal’ and the top management’s support. “Both the project team and the EHSO understood their accountability to the BSC 5‑star requirements, which they presented to the auditor very well,” he says with satisfaction. He is thankful for EHS Head K S Sudheesh Kumar’s clear vision and the orientation training. “Our Segment Head, S Devanand, and Project Manager, Dinesh Kahrbanda, strongly supported and communicated our message clearly to the staff members, subcontractors, and workmen while the SBG coordinator and HQ Team provided support in all aspects to complete the process,” he shares, affirming the success of concerted action.

One team, one goal: Mission Zero Harm

Micro irrigation projects are mostly dispersed in nature, with jobs being executed at 30 to 40 different locations every day, within a 50 km working radius. “That makes it difficult to make the workforce aware of IMS standards and safe working procedures,” informs Biswajit Mahapatra, Assistant EHS Manager at the Kundalia Irrigation Project – Right Bank Canal (KIPRBC). “But every challenge shows you a different path and vision to control processes and systems, and at L&T, we’ve created many tools to help us track activities digitally, such as geo-tagging and fencing, the Online Work Permits & inspections in View EHS, and powerful BI data analysis which have given us more control over the site.”

“The system identifies the project’s risks and lead & lag indicators,” explains Biswajit. “Individual and project performance are graphically measured, which improves my understanding of the site’s EHS performance and thereby plan for additional control measures to protect my workforce.”

Several unique initiatives have been implemented at KIPRBC: EOT dismantling, higherdiameter MS pipe laying in hilly terrains, transmission line tower erections of up to 30 m in height and stringing activity, transformer erections via winch mechanism, underwater scuba diving, diamond cutting of the superstructure column, tam grouting activity, and jacketing activity in the pump house superstructure. “In addition to the Sword of Honour, our efficient functioning has also won us several international, national, and internal awards like the Green Cover Award, the EHS Rolling Trophy, NSC award, and RoSPA Gold and Silver,” Biswajit lists out proudly.

Having been a part of several projects both national and international, Amjad Hussain brings a wealth of EHS knowledge as the Head of EHS at the Dhaka Metro project and is proud to be an L&T‑ite. “From my rich experience, I can vouch that L&T is a pioneer in Safety,” he affirms.

“Teamwork is key,” he remarks. “We formed a ‘Core Committee’ for the overall strategy for FSA & SOH,
which included the Project Director and heads of all departments, to facilitate quick decision making, delegating work, and monitoring overall progress. Everyone’s involvement right from the grass roots,
that is, from the workmen to the managerial level, is essential, and adopting a participative approach helped hugely.”

Working at L&T and contributing to nation building has been his everyday inspiration, says a contented Kumar Bipin, Manager – EHS at the Dhaka Metro CP 07 Project.

“Every workman, including contract workmen, at projects managed by L&T overseas are expected to meet the same stringent safety requirements as L&T employees working on any project,” he says with pride. “Even though language was a barrier, we have created a safety culture in which employees are encouraged to challenge their co-workers if they see unsafe practices. A free hand at decision making, close involvement of the project team in EHS inspections and training programmes, availability of adequate resources, and maintenance of safety records have all helped the project win the prestigious Sword of Honour,” says Kumar triumphantly.

This team had to cross so many a hurdle to finally win this honour. To start with, the project team had to contend with the lack of metro-related skilled workmen in Bangladesh. Then there were outdated safety systems followed by the interfacing agencies. Another major challenge was to carry out the lifting and shifting of materials and machineries on the viaduct in overcrowded and high-traffic areas. “We crossed every hurdle with meticulous planning and closely coordinating with each and every team member,” he sums up.

Prior to the Dhaka Metro Project, Kumar was associated with the OPGC-AES JV, Merry Go Round Railway Siding, Nabha Power Limited, and Rajpura Railway Siding projects.

He believes in challenging existing benchmarks and upgrading himself. A big advocate in embracing digital solutions, Kumar says that technology has enabled real-time training, faster observations and corrective action, and instant approval permits.

Beginning his EHS career on a high note

Rishav Ranjan Das

Assistant Manager (EHS), Railways SBG

Although young Rishav Das cannot offhand think of any memorable moments in his life thus far, being part of the EHS team that helped his Dhaka Metro project win the Sword of Honour must certainly be one. What makes this award even more commendable is that it was achieved in a foreign location, amidst many challenges unique to Bangladesh, primarily that of manpower competency and contractor management for an EHS professional, as he points out.

What contributed to their success? “Apart from IMS implementation and meeting other legal requirements, we introduced several special initiatives thanks to which we won this prestigious award,” remarks Rishav joyfully. “Getting skilled labour in Bangladesh was always an issue and so we introduced competence mapping of the entire workforce that helped us train our workforce right from the start of the project.”

While procurement was a challenge, it was up to the team to retain their trained labour for which they implemented a workforce wellbeing program & other related activities and an in-house competence building program that reduced job-related incident cases. “In addition, we monitored and evaluated the Project Safety and Occupational Health system through Safety Cultural and Health & Welfare surveys,” he adds for good measure.

His action speaks more than words

Shakeel Ahmad

Assistant Manager (EHS), Railways SBG

Young Shakeel Ahmad is a man of few words, for his responses to our questions are precise and succinct, but he is certainly a man of action, having contributed significantly to help his Dhaka Metro project win the prestigious and most-coveted Sword of Honour award. “Our success is all about creating and sustaining a positive attitude towards completing the work with safety,” he says with due seriousness, which as we all know is easier said than done amidst the chaos that are construction sites.

One of the major challenges for Shakeel and team during execution was the threat of road traffic, especially when they were carrying out the portal upright mast erection by crane. “Since getting trained and skilled workmen was always a problem in Bangladesh, we focused on training the workforce and conducting regular safety inspections and operational audits,” he points out, sharing the EHS team’s modus operandi to keep the site’s safety record intact.

“As a project team, we were always committed to succeed across all our tasks and duties,” he remarks, ensuring that there were no weak links in the system that could pull them down. “If you were to ask me the main reasons for our success, I would say reliability, responsibility, and excellent communication skills.” Of course, he nods, digital solutions like the SHEILD App strengthened their arm to drive EHS at site. “We developed very efficient traffic control systems to address one of our biggest challenges, and by effectively using WhatsApp, we ensured that we were all on the same page.”

The Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project, MRT Line‑6, where he is presently working is Shakeel’s 3rd project with L&T after stints at the DMRC Project CE07 Lot 2 and the Bhopal to Bina third line railway project. “My most memorable moment thus far is when I got my first promotion,” he says with a slight smile.

On his personal front, this native of Gaya in Bihar is married to Sadaf Ahmad, who is a homemaker. “I read books and practice yoga during my free time,” shares Shakeel about his personal pursuits.