ecchelmet 
MICHAEL SANDERSON
Head – EHS,
Heavy Civil IC
Foreword
How ESG compliant are we?
Change, though constant, is never easy and considering the enormous disruption that we have faced over the last 12–15 months due to the pandemic, life has been both a huge unlearning and learning experience for all of us. It has created new paradigms. It has urged us to re-evaluate and re-orient our lives and forced the entire world to focus on how we, as mankind, respect our world. At a different plane, questions are being raised as to how companies govern their businesses and how they measure and manage the impact of their businesses on the environment.
The term ESG has assumed significant relevance and importance as Financial Institutions and Investors are increasingly challenging companies in the key areas of Environment, Social Responsibility, and Governance and seeking to invest in companies that actively manage their operations responsibly. Safety is a key component of ESG.
L&T is under the same scrutiny too as to how we manage our Safety Management Systems (SMS) in our operations to prevent accidents? What we are doing to reduce, or eliminate loss of life and reduce injuries at the workplace? How do we select and manage our Supply Chain and our Subcontractors?
THE TERM ESG HAS ASSUMED SIGNIFICANT RELEVANCE AND IMPORTANCE AS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND INVESTORS ARE INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING COMPANIES IN THE KEY AREAS OF ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND GOVERNANCE AND SEEKING TO INVEST IN COMPANIES THAT ACTIVELY MANAGE THEIR OPERATIONS RESPONSIBLY. SAFETY IS A KEY COMPONENT OF ESG.
Our SMS is comparable to that of any company in the world and we are an accredited International Standard IS0 45001 organization. However, a company is not measured merely by its accreditation under ESG but by demonstrable action as to how safety is managed across all its operations. It is the company’s responsibility to ensure against any injury or loss from their operations.
Every accident is recorded, and ESG investors are keen to understand why the accident occurred and what steps the company has taken to prevent a recurrence; how we measure our incidents at projects and what actions are being taken by the management to eliminate such incidents; what proactive steps are taken and how are managers engaged to proactively manage safety at our various project sites. They would like to know about our safety initiatives that encourage positive safety behaviour; about whether workmen are engaged in safety training, whether there are safety committees, what is the level of commitment to improve safety and how or what have we done to improve safety?
Our safety commitment is espoused in Mission Zero Harm and its implementation is driven from the very top by the EHS Council under the chairmanship of Mr Subramanian Sarma, Whole Time Director & Senior Executive Vice President (Energy) to create and sustain a unified and cohesive safety standard across businesses.
Safety Managers have the responsibility to conduct safety inspections and meetings to demonstrate a ‘Top Driven’ approach complemented by a ‘Bottom Up’ approach of safety committees raising safety issues to the senior management. Similarly, the competence and performance of our subcontractors are evaluated to ensure that they meet, adhere, and embrace our shared safety value of Mission Zero Harm.
OUR SAFETY COMMITMENT IS ESPOUSED IN MISSION ZERO HARM AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IS DRIVEN FROM THE VERY TOP BY THE EHS COUNCIL UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF MR SUBRAMANIAN SARMA, WHOLE TIME DIRECTOR & SENIOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT (ENERGY) TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN A UNIFIED AND COHESIVE SAFETY STANDARD ACROSS BUSINESSES.
Behavioural safety is a challenging aspect that must be addressed. It is the responsibility of every employee and workman to behave safely without endangering oneself or putting others at risk which is why Managers and Supervisors are key to the success of Mission Zero Harm. Unsafe Acts and Unsafe Conditions are warning signs of potential danger and it is imperative to not only manage and measure these but implement SOPs and take proactive steps to eliminate an incident before it occurs.
EVERY PERSON HAS THE RIGHT TO A SAFE PLACE OF WORK, AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO COMMUNICATE THAT UNSAFE BEHAVIOUR IS UNACCEPTABLE AND SAFE BEHAVIOUR REWARDED.
Managing identified risks, ensuring the proper maintenance of P&M and equipment to eliminate accidents are essential too.
In these pandemic times, after the labour migration, project sites have had to make do with ‘raw’, new labour with no orientation to our Quality and EHS standards to push progress. Training this new breed of workmen is critical for continued safe operations.
Going forward, as we continue to grow, we will have to execute bigger, more complex projects that will undoubtedly sternly examine our EHS systems and processes. Our SMS will have to be sharp enough to close the gaps between strategy and execution and transform Safety into an excellence-oriented discipline.
ESG is challenging us, and we must have the right answers to remain competitive and profitable.