In the wake of pressing challenges to doing business posed by financial meltdown, fluctuating demand and supply, rising oil prices and global warming, corporate organisations need to aim at higher operational excellence through safety measures to minimise losses, raise productivity and also improve profit margins.
These were the views put forth by corporate leaders at a seminar on Achieving Operational Excellence through Safety, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Orissa government.
“Strong safety performance will drive business performance and companies need to effectively implement safety measures for achieving operational excellence. Embracing safety with work culture is tough as companies tend to focus more on productivity and profit”, said K Shankar Marar, assistant general manager (steel technology) of Tata Steel’s Kalinga Nagar project.
“Safety is of prime importance as injuries and accidental death of employees erodes morale, respect and productivity of a company. Safety and environmental management are market driven business principles and they should be central to a company’s total value proposition”, he added.
Commenting on the issues of utility and electrical safety, KV Durgaprasad, chief commercial officer of Central Elecricity Supply Utility of Orissa Limited (Cesu) said, “The general safety requirements pertaining to electricity distribution includes accessibility of bare conductors and general upkeep and inspection of all distribution sub-stations.
Talking on the safety aspects of the construction sector, AK Poddar, cluster HSE (health, safety and engineering) manager of the engineering, construction and contracts division of L&T Limited said, “57 per cent of the accidents in construction activities occur due to fall of employees from a certain height.