FOCUS HEALTH & SAFETY
38 AUGUST 2019
THINK AGAIN
Health and safety is crucially important for any business.
Gary Carvell, HSEQ Director at VINCI, explains why the
business ditched a tried and tested approach just when
it was achieving its best results in years
They say that curiosity killed the
cat, but in health and safety it’s the
absence of curiosity that’s dangerous. The
easy thing to do when lagging indicators
(like AFRs) tell you what you want is to
accept that it’s a direct result of your
e orts and sit back, basking in the glow
of your success. It’s a truism when people
say that just because something hasn’t
happened, doesn’t mean that it won’t; 365
days since the last lost time injury (LTI)
doesn’t mean 365 days until the next one.
It was this spirit of questioning that led
VINCI Construction UK and VINCI Facilities to
challenge the business to think again about
how it leverages human behaviour to deliver
excellence in health and safety. The previous
approach was very much focused on safety
for our people on the front line, and while its
core message to ‘stop, intervene and report’
was sound, it fell short of the needs of the
business as it is today.
This led to the development of a new
programme called Think Again. It’s a
positive message focused around the
theme of success through interdependence,
recognising that when things go wrong, it’s
rarely just because of the behaviour of the
injured person – their supervisors, managers
and leaders play a fundamental role too.
Leadership and management commitment
is a key factor in setting context, which is
crucial in informing people’s behavioural
choices (see Health and Safety Guidance 48 –
Reducing error and influencing behaviour).
Analysis of successful outcomes, such as
contracts achieving injury-free milestones,
usually shows that ‘the force is strong’
throughout the business, from top to bottom
and back up again where everyone knows
what they’re responsible for and does it.
Equally, when things do go wrong, it’s o• en
the case that poor choices were made at all
levels, with each actor’s choices having an
impact on those around them.
The concept at the heart of Think Again
was simple: be clear about our expectations
so we can be accountable to each other. The
starting point was to define the essential
behaviours expected from everyone,
regardless of seniority or where they worked
(contract or HQ):
Be aware of the hazards and risks involved
in your work
Always follow the rules and work safely
Stop and speak up if you can’t do the job
safely
Intervene to stop others from getting hurt
Share personal experience and knowledge
Report all injuries, concerns and CCPIs.
Recognising the importance of
interdependence and context, we then
looked at what we expect from our managers
and supervisors:
Demonstrate compliance is always
expected
Ensure production does not override
health and safety
Be visible and engaging so people see
you’re committed
Praise team members that intervene and
stop unsafe acts
Deal firmly and fairly with poor
performance
Make sure lessons are shared and learning
is applied.