The safety professional and managing business risks

1. The safety professional and managing business risks Allan St.John Holt Head of Safety Royal Mail Group

2. On the record Don’t believe all you read in the papers! Royal Mail is doing fine!

3. We deal well with the competition…

4. On the record • Accidents:

5. Where does health and safety fit into business risk management? • One of the major risk areas for any business • Legal requirement, not just financial risk • Solutions readily available • Competence path for practitioners • Mainstay of corporate governance • Links to other core risk areas – finance, brand/reputation, emergency planning, other regulated areas • Royal Mail Group Safety inputs into: Corporate Risk Management Committee and Risk Register Corporate Governance Committee

6. CSR – the next step forwards: • Safety • Health • Environment • Social policy • Diversity / inclusion

7. What is CSR? Short definition: “Doing the right thingfor our people, ourbusiness and the communities we operate in”. We do the right thing because our CUSTOMERS want to buy from companies that share their values EMPLOYEES want to work for companies that provide a healthy and safe environment and whose values align to theirs COMMUNITIES want companies that create the incomes, the jobs and contribute to the cohesion that builds neighbourhoods where people want to live and work

8. Benefits of the CSR approach Joining the dots – • Where does the management of stress fit in? • Where does rehabilitation fit in to your planning? • Is sickness absence just a health issue? • Is recruitment just an HR issue?

9. The benefits include an integrated approach and joined up strategies • Plus an improved cultural awareness in the business • Ability to think outside the pigeonholes • Silo mentality starting to break down • Managers question the ‘business as usual’ philosophy

10. Benefits of the CSR approach • Social policy: ·Recruiting from socially excluded groups: - A potential candidate pool of over 1 million people has been identified from disadvantaged facets of society that include the homeless, those with learning disabilities and ex-service personnel, from which the best candidates can be chosen. ·Payroll giving - at present our employees voluntarily give around £2.3 million pounds annually. ·‘Royal Mail Cares’ programme to facilitate and support business-led employee volunteering. ·The charitable donations process is being rationalised with an objective process to ensure that all donations benefit a number of stakeholders in a win: win scenario for the business, employees, recipient and community.

11. The safety challenges for management – the big three hot buttons • The moral issue Intangibles – brand damage Loss of reputation Weakened position with business partners Seen to be poor at managing Morale of the workforce Problems recruiting

12. The challenges for management • The cost – some of it Royal Mail compensation p.a £14 million Solicitors fees £4.5 million Accident absence at £70 a day £15 million - all straight off the bottom line

14. The challenges for management • The law Tougher is the trend Penalties for negligent managers are growing Now seeking fines appropriate to turnover Corporate killing laws soon in the UK

15. Bill Callaghan, Chairman HSC: “If you cannot manage health and safety, then you cannot manage… there is no excuse for those at the top to be ignorant of their responsibilities or to fail to take effective action….. inspectors must consider carefully the role of individual managers and directors when serious failures do occur – and ensure that appropriate action is taken against them if the evidence justifies it” 28 January 2002

16. Bridgend – an injury waiting to happen • Tolerance of rule breaches • Inadequate risk assessment • = unsafe system permitted • Failure to act on warning signs • So what is the professional analysis?

17. The start point: Recognition of the contribution of secondary causes

18. Disaster: Herald of Free Enterprise Primary cause: Bow doors not closed before leaving Secondary causes (selected): • No effective reporting system to check this was done - system • Management attitudes – leadership, values • Tolerated work practices- accountability

19. People tend to notice management errors during public enquiries • “A full investigation into the circumstances of the disaster leads inexorably to the conclusion that the underlying or cardinal faults lay higher up in the organisation. • “The failure on the part of the management to give proper and clear direction was a contributory cause of the disaster” Herald of Free Enterprise Enquiry

20. Disaster: Kings Cross fire Primary cause: Cigarette dropped on grease beneath escalator Secondary causes (selected): • Poor cleaning of escalator - system • Wooden escalator - equipment • Equipment failure – design/maintenance • Poor training of staff – policy & ownership • Culture- accountability

21. Bottom line points: • Finding primary causes usually doesn’t address the issues • Dealing with secondary causes is difficult – but: • The law is increasingly concerned with secondary causes • A structured, audited safety management programme is more likely to succeed than anything else • Increasingly, health and the environment are being addressed in the same way • …………………………………………… BUT (#2) -

22. .. there’s always someone just trying to help…

23. .. happy to take that little extra load

24. .. and cram a few more in!

25. DEPLOYMENT IS THE KEY ISSUE Some ideas that work: • Accountability • Policy, practice and the ‘safety culture’ • Testing opinions • KPIs beyond accidents • Consulting the workforce • Transparency -the annual SH&E report – And then - the annual CSR Report!

26. On the record Look for our new CSR annual report 2003/2004 at www.royalmailgroup.com

27. Your complaints or comments are very welcome: • allan.holt@royalmail.com