An Indian Outlook : Implementing HSE Management Systems

The positive impact of introducing HSE Management Systems at the organization level, both on the reduction of hazards and risks and on productivity, is now recognized by governments, employers and workers. While this standard was adopted with relish in Europe and Asia, in India it received a tepid response compared to Quality and Environment standards.

In India there are no authentic statistics on the number of companies certified for OHSAS or ISI8001. Information collected from various certification bodies indicates that approximately 3000 organizations have currently adopted these standards to specification their AOH&S activities. The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18000 correspond to the structure of ISO 14000 and thus can be implemented without conflicts where this is already being used.

India has published IS 18001: 2007 Indian Standard on Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems - Requirements with Guidance for Use, which is based on OHSAS 18000 and adapted to the Indian needs. IS 18001, similar to the other standards, names four phases of the improvement process: planning, implementation and operation, measurement and evaluation (checking and corrective action in OHSAS 18001), and management review.

Essential risk assessment process is described comprehensively in Annex C of IS:18001. It comprises of six steps: Classifying work activities, identifying hazards, determining risks, deciding if risk is tolerable, preparing risk control action plan, and reviewing adequacy of action plan. The reaction to introduction of any new system to control the existing activities is always the same. Managements view it as a method to bring discipline and bring in effective control and review. Getting certified against a standard is an assurance to various stakeholders that OHS issues are addressed in a systematic manner. Middle managements view it as some more amount of paper work.

Safety climate analysis give plenty of actionable points for top and middle management. One of the main observations of the field level personnel was the inflexibility of the system or the system not being modified to meet local conditions. In the absence of a proper approach the system is not followed.

Implementation of HSE system in industrial sector has its own challenges. As most of the work is outsourced (erection, commissioning, maintenance) spreading the message about the standards and making them adopt the standards has its limitations. Most contractors view adoption of standards as an additional cost. With high attrition rate among workmen, contractors face difficulty in implementing systems in a meaningful way. The system over a period of time deteriorates into just maintenance of records without implementation at the field level. Managements are not in a position to strictly enforce for a variety of reasons. At many remote places (Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities) it is very difficult to locate trained manpower.

An effective HSE management system requires strong leadership. Those organisations with good HSE systems be likely to have leaders who provide visible, active commitment to health and safety, encourage workforce involvement in health and safety issues, and regularly monitor and review performance.

In absence of serious research it is difficult to conclude that introduction of OHSAS systems has brought about a reduction of accidents. However, in companies where serious attempt was made to introduce systems as well as sustain it with strong support from top management a radical change in safety performance was witnessed.