Africa Business Communities

Harriman Oyofo: Safety as a No. 1 Priority – a Business Lie

Many workplaces have huge signs splashed across their entrances boldly proclaiming SAFETY as their No.1 priority but I would be worried if I found myself working in such an outfit. I’ll be worried because in all honesty no business owner sets up just to make safety his/her number one priority. The aim of investing a dollar in a business is in the hope of getting something back by way of a return on that dollar – PROFIT. That’s the driving force behind any business capital outlay before anything else, be it safety or any other ancillary component like giving back to community, establishing a name for the future, etc.

But don’t get me wrong. No employer or business owner establishes a business without a care for safety of the workforce either. At least the law requires that he/she provides safe systems of work, safe place to work and safe materials for work, plus there’s a moral obligation too to do so as well as the need to be a good corporate citizen and neighbor in the community. He/she also has to think of building and sustaining an image of a safe employer to remain a business and clients’ partner of choice otherwise business fortune might take the wrong turn. So safety is undoubtedly very important but definitely not a number one priority. Daily production quota is what the business is about and the key concern for safety conscious businesses is HOW TO PRODUCE SAFELY with minimum unplanned delays and stoppages.

The trouble with priorities is that they get shifted around in the face of realities of the moment. Even production quotas or targets get reviewed downwards to take into account unforeseen and unfolding production line ‘must do first’ issues. It’s all in a day’s work package, right? You know, absenteeism, sick offs, worker emergency calls, plant breakdowns, new employee ‘break-ins’, employee labour issues, and such and such. When solid production targets are inevitably reviewed downwards to accommodate ‘new’ issues, how much chance does SAFETY stand to be or remain numero uno? It’s unrealistic and simply not feasible. SAFE PRODUCTION should be the ideal priority that fits in perfectly with all other inputs and component, principal of which is personal responsibility without which there will be little or no production, never mind safe production.

If employees wait on the employer to make them ‘safe’ without a commitment from themselves then the road will be long and rough. Employers may ‘decree’ safety as a priority but only the employees’ unconditional buy-in can guarantee a measurable progress in that direction. Employers would prefer their employees going home at the end of each day’s work hale and hearty to their families while expecting them to return come next morning all in one piece barring off-the-job mishaps to have any chance of a fruitful business day ahead. But without the employees individually taking up the responsibility for the safety of self and production it isn’t going to happen. Management can provide all the safe systems in this world but if employees do not hold up their own end not much good will result. A hard hat incorrectly worn will not protect as designed or intended, neither will a pair of safety goggles perched on top of the forehead protect the eyes against flying particles. It is therefore incumbent on the employee to take a stand for safety of self and others by making safe production # 1 Priority, no one else can do it.

Away with catchy sloganeering which means precious little in reality or we might be shooed into the wrong corner of reality. Be aware that your first responsibility at work for safety is yours and no one else’s. Most employers know what is expected of them when it comes to safety but it is down to the employees to take advantage of the prevailing safe operating envelop in the interest of the work environment, assets and people around. Anything else is begging for trouble because SAFETY JUST CANNOT BE A #1 PRIORITY anywhere – it is patently unrealistic.                 

Harriman Oyofo is CEO, Mann Associates Ltd., Nigeria. 

 

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