Every year, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) marks World Day for Safety and Health at Work on or around the 28th of April. First celebrated in 2003, this international event works to promote and protect employees through safe and healthy practices. The ILO is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to encourage employment opportunities, drive discussion and set international labour standards.
According to ILO, “Every day, 6,300 people die as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases across the world – more than 2.3 million deaths per year. Three hundred seventeen million accidents occur on the job annually; many of these resulting in extended absences from work.”
Last year, the British government reported as many as twenty fatalities in the manufacturing industry. In a bid to reduce said occupational accidents, workshops are required to adhere to The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 as applied to machinery; the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002; and Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that safety culture should be higher on the priority list. At ROMAR-Abrado, our team has received extensive workshop machinery and safety equipment training. We have implemented robust procedures that put health and safety at the forefront of operations to safeguard our employees. In addition, we see the importance of good mental health, and have made identifying mental wellbeing concerns, and how to tackle any issues, an objective in 2022.
One of ROMAR-Abrado’s fundamental values from day one has always been to go home the same way you arrived, safely and in one piece. When participating in the workshop environment, our onshore team partake in numerous safety-related exercises during the day, week and month to ensure that health and safety are always at the forefront of any operations.
Before any new employee steps foot in the workshop and dons a boilersuit, they are enrolled on a series of Human Focus safety courses which covers all safety arenas for our sector. A typical day at ROMAR-Abrado will see a morning safety tool box talk meeting where we discuss the general activities for that day. Each person is delegated a job that is captured as part of the Risk Control Card (ROC) app that we have internally developed and now use virtually. The ROC app can be accessed remotely from any device and offers a robust reporting system. If we come across something that’s deemed an unsafe condition or act, positive or near-miss during that day or activity, we record this in our ROC report app. With this, the employee can describe what they have found, how they have rectified it and add a photo to reference what they have come across.
Recently, ROMAR-Abrado implemented a monthly stand up for safety meeting where one delegate from the workshop will raise and present a safety-related topic to support continual learning and highlight the significance of safety in the workplace. This is just one of the many ways we embed a safety-first attitude in our team.
At ROMAR-Abrado, we are committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and strive to provide the environment and employment conditions that will support our team to optimise their skills, capabilities and career objectives. Nothing in our business is too crucial for it not to be done safely; every employee is expected to play their part through active co-operation and do everything they can to prevent injury to themselves and others.