Published on July 14, 2023
Behaviour intervention changes external motivation (rules, procedures, protocols) – I have to follow the rules and procedures for internal motivation (felt leadership, role modeling, influencing, engagement) – I want to follow the rules and procedures. Not only self but everyone in the team works towards greater safety to increase organisational pride by reducing serious injuries to almost nil.
Skill set intervention: Any accident occurs due to a deployment gap for the implementation of processes in the organisation. To avoid a deployment gap, one should have an awareness of procedures. Capability building of employees and the workforce is planned along with competency assessment the of the workforce working on critical processes.
Safety culture within Tata Power was initiated early with a safety policy, safety toolbox talk, safety pledge, procedure, safety resources deployment, PPE implementaon , provision of tools and tackles, safety induction training, practice yard development practical training, etc. Above these is PPE and admin control which is less effective, but they are absolutely necessary.
The annual strategy of the company is developed based on learning from incidents. KPI and annual safety plan is developed for the annual strategy. The following three interventions are determined organization-wide:
- Technology interventions
- Behaviour interventions
- Skill set interventions for employees and workforce
Learning from incidents indicates that more focus is required on behavioural interventions. There is a significant relationship between safety culture and learning culture. The organisations with robust HSE management systems and a positive safety culture also have better learning from incident systems. Organisations with effective LFI systems sustain a process of continuous improvement that allow them over time to become highly reliable organisation.
The following approach is adopted for behaviour intervention at Tata Power:
- Classroom training is imparted for executives and the workforce for awareness, sensitisation, teamwork, communication, relationship and leadership to implement the safety at work site
- Implementation Programme: through such a programme, the company creates regular awareness for all ground staff, sensitises them, establishes a relationship, creates teamwork, creates listening – communication, regular motivation – empowers everyone, and enables a happy and safe life. It will cover different activities like morning meeting, home visits, personal meetings, group meeting, small trainings, games, etc. The company also deploys a BBS implementation team at the work site
Detailed content and purpose of the above intervention are:
1. Sensitisation Training
- Sensitising participants about what is a human being
- Sensitisation about how he/she and the body is different
- Safety through fear and temptation/lure does not last long is established
- Last but not the least, the fact that safety is not a standalone thing but a deeply cultural belief is established
2. Awareness Build-up
- After the sensitisation training, participants will become aware of self and others
- There will be heightened awareness about self and the role of others
- They will be able to see loopholes in their world and the environment
3. Practising the Principle
- Because of awareness being built-up in an individual, practising what has been taught will take priority in their mind
- Small, low-lying victories will be achieved by practising the principles in personal and professional life
- Participant will try and find solutions to daily issues by practising and teaching these principles
4. Refresher Training
- While practising the principles, participants may sometimes feel a lack of information about details of the principles
- If this is allowed to be continued, a lack of enthusiasm or loss of self-worth can occur
- This would be the best time to introduce participants to a refresher (advanced) training of one day. This can be arranged after 4-6 months of initial training
5. Taking Ownership
- With the inputs gained from the refresher training, new ideas will be born in participants’ mind
- Participants will be ready to take ownership of culture change at their respective locations
- This confidence is a joint outcome of practising the principles and getting refresher ideas at the right time
- Participants will feel that the department is theirs, the circle and division are theirs, and the company is their own. So culture building becomes the main work for them
6. Culture Built-up
- Through ownership, participants will generate/collect new ideas for developing a distinct culture at their workplace
- They will slowly identify and practise the elements necessary for building culture. While practising culture, they will also motivate, teach, and hand-hold others to create a unique safety culture in the company
The annual safety plan was focused on 13 elements of THSMS elements which cover aspects of leadership, capability-building, contractor management, hazard identification risk assessment, emergency preparedness, asset management, monitoring, etc. 15% weightage was given to annual safety plan in safety performance. Horizontal deployment was focused on the deployment of learning from incidents, and a weightage of 5% was given to this. Behaviour assessment was focused on the revalidation test, behaviour training for workforce, cultural survey for employees and the workforce, and competency assessment of the workforce. The weightage given to this indicator was 10%. The overall weightage given for these three indicators altogether was 30%.
Based on the learnings and input received during the interaction with the division, certain modifications are carried out in the skill set and behaviour intervention. The parameters are monitored in the skill set and safety interventions such as competency assessment of the workforce, behaviour-based safety training, revalidation test of the contractor workforce, HVST visit of leaders, and felt leadership workshop. Of these parameters, HVST and felt leader is added as a new parameter. Flexibility is given to divisions for the implementation of these interventions.
In workforce competency assessment, skilled workforce exposed to high-risk jobs is evaluated by asking them a selected set of questions. Based on the knowledge and understanding about the job they are carrying out, answers are collected, and they are qualified or disqualified. If a worker is disqualified, then he/she has to undergo the training again.
In the revalidation test, the workforce that has undergone the SHE L1 training course through TPSDI has to undergo the revalidation test once in a quarter to check their competency post-training. In FY24, 96.66% workers could qualify for the revalidation test. Those who did not pass the test were given another chance, and those who did not pass in the second attempt were sent for SHE L1 training through TPSDI again.
In the HVST visit by leaders, the chief of the division and second-line leader is required to visit other division once in a year. They need to interact with the employees and workers, and carry out high-risk job audits using 7 steps of life-saving rules. In FY23, 55 HVST visits were carried out by leaders including the Chief of Safety and Environment.
Felt leadership workshop is reintroduced with a target to cover the top leader in the middle-level management team. This is introduced to bring a positive culture change in the organisation. At the organisational level, the target taken in FY24 to cover different workforce and employees under behaviour intervention is 44,794.