Agreement sets out “high hazard” industry leaders' safety role
Article Type: Environment and safety From: Pigment & Resin Technology, Volume 38, Issue 6
The role of industry leaders in preventing environmental and safety catastrophes in the onshore fuel and chemical manufacturing industries has been spelled out in a new agreement. Representatives of Britain's high hazard industries, regulators and the unions have published for the first time a set of principles for “process safety leadership” – top-level engagement in dealing with significant risks to people and the environment. The agreement sets out eight principles for senior industry figures to follow,including requiring board level involvement and competence in safety management,putting process safety leadership at the core of a business to ensure risks are properly managed, and engaging and involving the workforce in managing safety. Other principles cover the need for top-level scrutiny of process safety indicators and publication performance data to build public reassurance about major hazard risk management. Tony Traynor is the Chair of the Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG), which drew up the agreement. He said:
Operators of high hazard industries have an important duty of care to their employees and the public in ensuring that risks to human life and the environment are effectively managed.
The agreement we have signed today sets out the fundamentals of process safety leadership and represents a clear commitment to improving standards. It leaves nobody in any doubt that safety culture starts with senior management and board members.
We have to learn lessons from incidents such as Buncefield and BP Texas City,and ensure that they do not happen again. This is an important step forward. The PSLG will expect all high hazard companies in our sector to adopt and act upon these principles.
Judith Hackitt, the Chair of HSE, said:
Leadership is fundamental to good safety management in any organisation, as our recent strategy makes clear. In an industry that is by its very nature high hazard, the need for the very highest level of leadership is non-negotiable.
We all – regulators, employers, trade unions, representative bodies– have a deep and abiding interest in making sure that adequate controls of major hazards are in place.
The agreement makes it clear that the responsibility for controlling the risk of major incidents lies with those running the major hazard companies. We will now be looking for clear evidence that not only have companies signed up to these principles but they are being acted upon and board members are taking their leadership role seriously.
Bud Hudspith, Unite the Union, said:
We are very encouraged to see the industry taking the issue of process safety so seriously. Workers are the ones whose lives are on the line when things go wrong and it is only right that board members and senior managers in hazardous industries acknowledge this and make a commitment to providing leadership.
The real test of these principles will come in the difference they make on the factory floor, and I hope with support from the top of the industry this is where safety improvements will be most keenly felt.
Lord McKenzie, the Government Minister with responsibility for health and safety, said:
Leadership plays a vital part in setting the safety culture in every organisation, but in the high hazard industries it is even more important.
I am pleased to see the industry recognise the role that boards and senior managers have to play in protecting employees and the public, and the commitment to working to address the risks that arise in these businesses. However, the real test is the impact the agreement has when implemented and I look forward to hearing about the progress the industry is making in improving safety and managing risks going forward.
