Workplace health, safety spending good investment
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
AS BRUNEI Darussalam recently celebrated labour day, The Brunei Times spoke to professionals in the field of occupational health and safety where the long standing misconception of health and safety for companies is one of no return on investment. This would then result in less money being spent on equipment, personal protective equipment, and training, marginalising health and safety for workers.
Spending on health and safety in the workplace should not be considered an expense, but rather a long term investment for businesses and companies.
"It is not unheard of abroad, where injured staff have taken their employers to court for millions of dollars in compensation," said Amario S Gopez, from Sahid, one of the contractors that work closely with Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP). He added that although workers in Brunei are covered by Worker's Compensation, the amount is based on the severity of the incident that has taken place.
He went on to say, "The purpose of health and safety is the preservation of humans, a car can be replaced but you cannot replace human life."
A good health and safety programme for the workplace is more than just protecting the company or business from any lawsuits which may prove harmful to their image and reputation, it is about the preservation of humans.
"You have to invest to provide the right safe environment for your people to work in," he concluded.
Over the last three years some startling figures have emerged in relation to cases of accidents and compensation. Alone these figures would be considered particularly low, but against the backdrop of Brunei's small labour force, 123 cases of compensation paid out in 2006, with the 76 per cent of the incidents occurring in the construction sector and manufacturing sector. In 2005, there were 130 incidents and also the grisly statistic of three deaths recorded in 2004.
From an employer's viewpoint the minimum amount for investment on health and safety represents a huge amount money, especially for those who are required to equip their staff with protective personal equipment.
By looking at the protective personal equipment head to toe, safety helmets, safety goggles or glasses, ear plugs, protective masks, safety gloves, coveralls and safety boots are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of expenditure for companies who look to comply with the different safety requirements across various industries.
One of the pioneers of health and safety in the workplace in the Sultanate is BSP who are not only proponents of health and safety programme within their company but have repeatedly stated that safety is their number one priority.
In doing so, their initiatives have successfully bred a health, safety and environment culture across their broad business functions, not only out in the field but also in their administrative offices and most recently BSP has played a significant role in raising road safety awareness.
One such initiative is a proactive intervention programme called Pakat, which which empowers even junior staff to identify areas of non-compliance with regard to road safety or any matter concerning safety.
Dr Grahaeme Henderson, BSP Managing Director has stated that, "you cannot manage safety from the office and assume that everyone is complying with the requirements. Instead, it is important to personally check that what you think is happening is actually happening in practice and you must be proactive".
Aaron Paul Lee, Management Executive of Rico Trading, who supplies a broad range of safety equipment is another who believes that health and safety is a culture that needs to be embraced by employers in Brunei.
"Any company regardless of industry should exercise firm health and safety standards. As employers we owe employees a firm standard of duty. People are the foundation of organisations and their well being must be of the highest interest to their respective employers," said Lee.
The Brunei Times
Spending on health and safety in the workplace should not be considered an expense, but rather a long term investment for businesses and companies.
"It is not unheard of abroad, where injured staff have taken their employers to court for millions of dollars in compensation," said Amario S Gopez, from Sahid, one of the contractors that work closely with Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP). He added that although workers in Brunei are covered by Worker's Compensation, the amount is based on the severity of the incident that has taken place.
He went on to say, "The purpose of health and safety is the preservation of humans, a car can be replaced but you cannot replace human life."
A good health and safety programme for the workplace is more than just protecting the company or business from any lawsuits which may prove harmful to their image and reputation, it is about the preservation of humans.
"You have to invest to provide the right safe environment for your people to work in," he concluded.
Over the last three years some startling figures have emerged in relation to cases of accidents and compensation. Alone these figures would be considered particularly low, but against the backdrop of Brunei's small labour force, 123 cases of compensation paid out in 2006, with the 76 per cent of the incidents occurring in the construction sector and manufacturing sector. In 2005, there were 130 incidents and also the grisly statistic of three deaths recorded in 2004.
From an employer's viewpoint the minimum amount for investment on health and safety represents a huge amount money, especially for those who are required to equip their staff with protective personal equipment.
By looking at the protective personal equipment head to toe, safety helmets, safety goggles or glasses, ear plugs, protective masks, safety gloves, coveralls and safety boots are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of expenditure for companies who look to comply with the different safety requirements across various industries.
One of the pioneers of health and safety in the workplace in the Sultanate is BSP who are not only proponents of health and safety programme within their company but have repeatedly stated that safety is their number one priority.
In doing so, their initiatives have successfully bred a health, safety and environment culture across their broad business functions, not only out in the field but also in their administrative offices and most recently BSP has played a significant role in raising road safety awareness.
One such initiative is a proactive intervention programme called Pakat, which which empowers even junior staff to identify areas of non-compliance with regard to road safety or any matter concerning safety.
Dr Grahaeme Henderson, BSP Managing Director has stated that, "you cannot manage safety from the office and assume that everyone is complying with the requirements. Instead, it is important to personally check that what you think is happening is actually happening in practice and you must be proactive".
Aaron Paul Lee, Management Executive of Rico Trading, who supplies a broad range of safety equipment is another who believes that health and safety is a culture that needs to be embraced by employers in Brunei.
"Any company regardless of industry should exercise firm health and safety standards. As employers we owe employees a firm standard of duty. People are the foundation of organisations and their well being must be of the highest interest to their respective employers," said Lee.
The Brunei Times
Business Besides Oil
