Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG) organised the annual Safety Heads Meet on December 15, 2015, at Hotel Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai. The theme of the day’s session was ‘Safety – A Key Business Imperative’. This session was attended by 65 senior safety professionals from 45 Tata companies. Interspersed with presentations from the Group Safety & Health team and various Tata companies, the gathering was aimed at sharing best practices within Tata, generating awareness about the various safety initiatives run by the group centre as well as provide an update on the progress of various Tata companies in the area of safety.
The day began with Mr S Padmanabhan, Executive Chairman, TBExG, taking the group through the safety journey in the Tata group till date. Stressing on the importance of safety for the group, Mr Padmanabhan elaborated on how care for the employees has been embedded in the DNA of the Tata group. Mr Suresh Tanwar, Chief – Group Safety & Health, TBExG, then took to the stage for a session on the topic ‘Integrated safety approach at Tata group’. Mr Tanwar took the participants through the role that the Group Safety & Health team plays, and how the Tata group is approaching safety in an integrated manner.
This was followed by a presentation made by Mr Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO, Tata Housing, who presented on ‘Safety excellence journey in Tata Housing’. Mr Banerjee took the team through how the real estate firm is in the process of changing the safety culture within the organisation by putting in appropriate processes and focusing on people. Up next was a session from Tata Motors, where Mr Arvind Bodhankar, Corporate Head – SHE & Sustainability, presented on the critical role of employee engagement for safety improvement. Mr Bodhankar described how Tata Motors has reduced hand and eye injuries through employee engagement.
Mr Tanwar then took the group through the Tata Safety & Health Management System, which was launched during the BEC 2015 earlier this month. He explained the need for the management system and its benefits, while also elucidating the 13 elements of the system. It was then time for Mr John Burdett, VP – Operations Planning, Tata Global Beverages, to give a presentation on the topic ‘Developing safety in new global organisation’. The participants got to know about the world class safety systems being developed by the organisation by focusing on leadership engagement, ownership & accountability, and engagement with the workforce.
The Chief Safety Officer of Tata Teleservices, Mr Rakesh Sharma, was next, and presented on the company’s initiatives towards building positive safety culture. Mr Sharma talked of the 4-pillar approach that the company is using to transform the safety culture, namely risk assessment through audit mechanism, corrective & preventive action, employee communication & awareness, and benchmarking & best practice replication.
The participants also got to know about the way forward for Group Safety & Health activities from Mr Sanjay Rajasekaran, Consultant, TBExG, who elaborated on the initiatives that the Group Safety & Health team is undertaking in:
- Commonality & convergence
- Training & capability building
- Transparency & sharing
- Assurance & verification
Then, Ms Sangeeta Chandran, Lead - Special Initiatives, TCS, talked about ‘Safety First’ in TCS – which is about creating a culture of safety by making safety a habit. She took the team through the various steps that have been taken by the TCS team in terms of addressing the 4 dimensions of safety: accidents, health, external threats and self-harm. It was then time for Mr Tanwar to take the stage again to throw light on the topic of ‘Changing role of safety, governance & ethics’. Taking the group through the business case for safety, he also highlighted the role of corporate safety and the linkages between safety, governance & ethics.
The most awaited session of the day – an interaction with the Group Chairman Mr Cyrus Mistry – then took place, wherein the participants put forth interesting queries on topics ranging from the role of leadership, culture of safety, women’s safety, sharing of best practices on safety, to the role of the Safety Heads in different Tata companies.
The last session of the day was conducted by Mr Prakash Velu, Head – HSE, Tata BlueScope Steel, on ‘Managing construction and other safety risks’. During his session, Mr Velu explained how Tata BlueScope is effectively managing safety at sites by focusing on eliminating the risks and building in a positive safety culture by enhancing the competence of people.
The Safety Heads Meet was much appreciated by all safety professionals, as it provided them with an opportunity to interact with peers as well as the Tata group’s leadership to discuss various aspects of safety within the Tata group.