Organisations need to do more than merely focus on results in order to be successful. Special attention needs to be paid with regard to quality and the manner in which an entity operates in order to meet the 'zero accidents' target. This was one of the key messages put forward by Portuguese and international experts dedicated to safety and risk management on a daily basis, after a morning of experience-sharing at the Galp Safety Forum, held at the Altice Arena in Lisbon.
Under the slogan 'Greater safety: Fewer risks', the annual Galp forum brought together an ensemble of employees with a view to raising awareness with regard to risks and creating greater enlightenment in relation to prevention.
Preventing accidents depends greatly on the human component, even when the technical aspects seem to have been duly assured. This was a common opinion among the international specialists attending the Safety Forum. Martin Carter, a leadership coach and risk consultant, Steve Perkins, a safety consultant for the health and wellbeing sectors, and Jim Wetherbee, a former NASA astronaut and risk consultant, argue that rules, regulations and legal requirements are worth nothing in the absence of the good team management by corporate leaders. “Controlling risk in a dangerous world can be summarised in three key components: knowledge, skills and attitude”, emphasises Jim Wetherbee. “Following the rules and procedures prevents many, but not all accidents”, declares Martin Carter. However, he continues, “adding a series of principles of excellence to these rules will enable us to prevent all accidents and, at the same time, to improve performance and productivity”.
It is true to say, the experts admit, that alongside regulations and standards, technology now makes an essential contribution to risk prevention. Nevertheless, the truth is that these systems depend on the inputs provided, meaning the human factor is always more important. “We need to understand the social side of things and to put into practice everything that people do better than computers, including assessing situations, forming judgments and making decisions”, adds the former astronaut, who concludes: “A company will perform really well if it masters the technical side of the business, but will achieve excellence if it manages to master the social side too”.