TONY ALLWRIGHT,
Madam, - Workers in the building industry are right to be distressed at the totally unacceptable loss of 22 people in work accidents in 2002, but the call for tougher legislation, while well-meaning, is misplaced.
Accidents happen due to one or more of just three things: inadequate procedures; inadequate knowledge of procedures; inadequate motivation to apply known procedures.
Only management, starting with the CEO, can resolve all three things. And unless the CEO is personally motivated to protect his workforce, and demonstrates this by his own daily behaviour, his organisation will continue to hurt and kill people.
His daily behaviour might include: (a) reviewing every safety incident; (b) making regular safety inspections; (c) joining or leading safety audit or investigation teams; (d) giving safety talks to the workforce; (e) making safety the first item on the agenda of every meeting; (f) unequivocally backing up anyone with safety concerns; (g) ensuring adequate training is provided as required; (h) treating sub-contractors with the same respect as his own employees.
The CEO also has to motivate his own managers to ensure that adequate procedures exist, that the workforce is trained, that people willingly comply with the procedures and that their own daily behaviour demonstrates their personal commitment. This is a continual and strenuous process. It doesn't cost much money but it takes an awful lot of effort. The reward is always a dramatic reduction in accident rates.
No amount of legislation or threats will result in anything close to what will be achieved if the CEO is, on a personal level, utterly and demonstrably committed to keeping his workforce alive and healthy.
CEOs alone can reduce the building industry's appalling death toll. - Yours, etc.,
TONY ALLWRIGHT, Industrial Safety Management Consultant, Killiney, Co Dublin.