Advancing the Conversation on Building a Robust Safety Culture in Organizations

At the recently concluded ACEHK Safety Forum 2024, held at the Zero Carbon Park in Kowloon, Hong Kong, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Hong Kong (ACEHK) brought together industry experts to discuss the theme, "Safety Resilience: Adapting, Innovating, and Thriving in the Face of Challenges." 

ACEHK invited Jacobs Regional Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Director Asia Bharatt Raaj , to the forum to draw on his extensive industry experience to join this critical conversation and share actionable insights with the delegates. Jacobs Senior Director of Operations, Hong Kong Rupert Leung  also took part as the moderator of a panel discussion on how to shape a safe working environment.

On safety culture - compliance and beyond

At Jacobs, we believe work must be healthy, safe and secure for our people and our planet. At the heart of this is our BeyondZero® approach, which sets the direction and framework of action for improving health, safety, environment, security, and resilience associated with our operations, maturing our culture of caring and living our values.

Drawing from BeyondZero and Bharatt's extensive experience in HSE, his talk shed light on safety culture and its evolution within organizations. He emphasized the need for organizations to transition into a generative stage of safety maturity by addressing human error, safety clutter and mental health.

Insights from his talk, which were widely appreciated by the delegates, include:

Looking for more than human mistakes when investigating accidents. 

It's important not to accept human error as the only conclusion, especially during accident investigations. 

"As per the conventional approach, humans are considered the reason for errors, leading organizations to change people and their roles in an attempt to address the issue. However, this needs a shift in perspective,” Bharatt says. “Instead of focusing solely on individuals, it’s essential to dig deeper and conduct a thorough examination of the organizational and environmental factors that contribute to errors. By understanding the broader context in which individuals operate, organizations will be better informed to improve their safety protocols and overall safety maturity." 

Identifying and reducing safety clutter

Organizations often introduce safety policies and procedures without fully considering the potential impact on their employees and the tradeoffs that they will have to make to accommodate them. 

"This oversight may lead to conflict within operations and even create conditions that lead to serious accidents,” adds Bharatt. “Therefore, it’s crucial to recognize and address any aspects of safety protocols that could impede an organization's overall safety standards. Identifying safety clutter will lead to enhanced safety conditions in organizations." 

Addressing mental health front and center 

Mental health is an important aspect that impacts everyone. “In order to foster a safe and supportive working environment, organizations must prioritize mental health conversations and offer to help their employees assess their mental health and manage it in the best possible way," says Bharatt. 

While discussing tools to evaluate mental health, Bharatt cited the example of One Million Lives by Jacobs, which is an accessible mental health check-in tool available to anyone, regardless of their location.

On ensuring a safe working environment

Taking the dialogue on safety culture forward, Rupert Leung moderated a panel discussion on, “What more can be done to ensure a safe working environment." 

“Shaping a resilient and lasting safety culture requires a well-thought-out strategy that considers challenges and opportunities to elevate security maturity," commented Rupert on the panel. “The panel discussion addressed various aspects – design, regulatory, supervision and monitoring, contractual – through the diverse perspectives of panelists, spotlighting how to nurture a safe working environment.”

The panel consisted of Deputy Secretary (Works) 2, Development Bureau Johnny Chan; Executive Director, Construction Industry Council Albert Cheng; Vice-President, Hong Kong Construction Association Simon Liu; and Immediate Past Chairman, ACEHK Andy Kwok. 

About health, safety, security & the environment at Jacobs

At Jacobs, ensuring the health, safety, and security of our people and our planet is at the heart of our work. We’re proud to have participated in the ACEHK conversation alongside our industry peers to help elevate the security culture of organizations. 

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