Empowering EHS stewards – a journey of competency enhancement

“EHS is one of the significant value propositions in our business decision,” observes Shrinath Rao, Executive Vice President & Head – Roads, Runways & Elevated Corridors (RREC). “Our goal is to ensure Zero Harm for all our employees, workmen, contractors, and clients.”

In pursuit of that goal, EHS culture at RREC SBG is transforming thanks to a comprehensive Steward Competency programme. Featuring multiple impactful training topics finely curated from the competency survey conducted, it incorporates a carefully crafted curriculum, conducted by subject matter experts, focusing on a wide range of topics, including understanding EHS systems, risk assessment, unsafe acts & conditions, digital awareness, reporting, and more.

“Mission Zero Harm is not just a goal; it’s our unwavering commitment,” points out Parikshit Kumar Guha, Head – Formations & Structures.

Making the Steward Competency programme work: For starters, an exclusive assessment survey sheet identified present competency status based on parameters like knowledge, skill, and attitude that was circulated to the various projects to evaluate their respective EHS In-charges. Based on that final assessment sheet, the key competency elements and focus areas were evaluated and analysed.

While the competency training modules were developed by carefully identified subject matter experts, a ‘Train the Trainer’ external training module was arranged for the trainers to enhance their training skills. After completing all the preparatory work, a training calendar and schedule were distributed, and training schedules rolled out in batches to involve and win active participation and engagement.

“I believe that the development of the EHS steward competency is of paramount importance for our continual improvement,” observes Jeevan Rao, EHS Head – RREC SBG, TI IC, the moving force behind the programme. “Our commitment to maintain a safe and secure work environment relies on the expertise and dedication of our EHS stewards who play a crucial role in implementing and enforcing our EHS policies, ensuring compliance with regulations, proactively identifying and mitigating potential risks.”

“Training is one of the most important levers to build an EHS culture,” states Chetana Patnaik, Head – Human Resources, TI IC.

Participants are assessed prior to the training through a pre-training topic awareness quiz to determine and evaluate knowledge levels, and after completing the training, a postassessment awareness quiz is conducted to measure progress in awareness and share feedback on the training, quality, and improvements that need to be made. To sustain and continuously update the competency of the stewards, half-yearly competency evaluation and refresher training sessions are also in process. Individual EHS steward performance scores are tracked, and their progress monitored.

Thus far, 3 batches have been completed and RREC has an army of 168 EHS stewards drawn from 16 projects, the bulk of them – 59 – from the C6 Package of the High-Speed Rail project.

Making it count

Safety first culture: Better equipped to identify potential risks and implement effective control measures, the EHS stewards have already started to play a crucial role in promoting a safety-first culture across projects.

Improved compliance: With their enhanced skill and attitude training, the stewards are able to successfully navigate and act on non-compliance, as well as effectively recommend and provide corrective action measures for the right
closure of unsafe acts and conditions.

Increased efficiency: Reporting of unsafe acts/conditions, risk assessments, and upholding the EHS standards across locations are much better, driven by these stewards, which has translated into lesser incidents, more near-miss reporting and an improvement in the overall safety performance.

“Participants have experienced significant enhancements in their competency levels because of our EHS Steward Competency Programme, with assessment scores increasing by 30%– 40% on an average,” mentions a visibly happy Viresh Nawale, DGM – EHS, RREC SBG, TI IC. “This demonstrates its immense value and the dedication of our stewards to continually improve.”

Training effectiveness have gone up by 60%–70% in some cases, clearly revealing the merit in the programme. Jeevan, Viresh, and their EHS team appreciate that the journey has just begun, but it augurs well for the business and the organization and represents a significant step towards Mission Zero Harm.