Published on March 15, 2024
The Tata Safety Heads Meet, held from March 12-14, 2024, focused on building synergy, scale and speed in the safety and health initiatives in the journey towards creating safer workplaces. The three-day meet was packed with insightful sessions, engaging discussions, and collaborative group work, all aimed at enhancing safety and health across organisations.
Held at the Larsen & Toubro Leadership Development Academy in Lonavala, the meet started with introductions by every participant and participating Tata company bringing a unique approach in how safety and health is being managed in their companies.
Setting the context & key group updates
The meet commenced with the session that set the context for the discussions to follow. Key updates from the year gone by and key safety initiatives undertaken across the Group were shared, providing valuable insights into the current safety landscape by Gautam Gondil, Assistant Vice President - Group Safety & Health, Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG).
Group incident analysis
A comprehensive analysis of recent incidents was presented, shedding light on common findings and patterns. This session underscored the importance of learning from past incidents to prevent future ones.
Group work discussion on synergy and scale
The participants engaged in a group work discussion on six key topics:
- Group work 1, focused on the revision of the safety and health policy and the need for updating the policy to reflect current realities and future challenges.
- Group work 2 focused on enhancing occupational safety through AI & ML interventions and the potential of AI & ML in improving occupational safety was explored. Four used cases were discussed and presented.
- The third group focused on Tata Safety & Health Management System – Next steps (post self-assessment) comprising of peer reviews and quarterly audits were a few steps deliberated by the team.
- The group 4 topic was on occupational health – initiatives and key strategies: The group proposed few projects like chemical management, physical hazards – noise illumination, ergonomics, mental well-being as initiatives and strategies for enhancing occupational health.
- Group 5 discussed faster deployment of learnings from Accelerate Reduction in Repeat Events (ARRE) sessions and the importance of quickly implementing learnings to reduce repeat incidents was emphasised.
- Group 6 focused on capability building of Tata safety professionals. The team deliberated on the competency framework for safety professionals across levels. Ideas were exchanged on how to further develop the skills and capabilities of safety professionals.
Common initiatives for FY25 across industry clusters
The discussion then shifted to the common initiatives to be undertaken in FY25 across various industry clusters, including large organisations, IT/ITES, financial services, retail/consumer products, hospitality, manufacturing and infrastructure companies.
Cluster-wise commitments
Each cluster identified 2-3 specific commitments towards enhancing safety and health for companies in that industry cluster for FY25, addressing their unique challenges and opportunities.
Report out on group work discussion
The meet concluded with a report out on the group work discussions, summarising the key takeaways and action points.
The Tata Safety Heads Meet 2024 brought together 50 safety leaders from across the Tata group to share, learn, network and commit to a safer future of employees. The formal interaction with Sanjeev Singh, Vice President & Head, TBExG, underscored the importance that the organisation places on safety and health.
Moving forward, the insights, ideas, and commitments are taken from this meet, ready to translate them into action. Here’s to a safer future!