The Knowledge
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | DECEMBER 2018 | 21
Fostering a
safety culture
in the water
industry
Having the right culture is o en the
key to achieving excellence in safety
compliance and performance. Here,
David Towlson of NEBOSH talks to
Thames Water's Chief Health, Safety &
Security Officer, Karl Simons, about his
top tips for fostering a positive health &
safety culture in the water industry.
DAVID TOWLSON,
HEAD OF QUALIFICATIONS AND ASSESSMENT,
NEBOSH
B
eyond the moral
imperative of
protecting people
from ill-health and
injury, organisa-
tions face many external pres-
sures which make optimum
health and safety performance
essential.
Fines for health and safety
offences leading to fatalities
are now linked to turnover
- a move designed to ensure
that those who fail to operate
within the law face a "real
economic impact". It is not
only legal compliance that
is pushing organisations to-
wards better health and safety
standards. Productivity rates,
talent retention, competitive
advantage and overall busi-
ness performance can all ben-
efit significantly from health
and safety excellence.
While external pressures
exert influence on organisa-
tions, real change can only
come from within. Develop-
ing a positive health and
safety culture is particularly
important, because incidents
will inevitably happen if at-
titudes, beliefs and percep-
tions around safety are poor.
At Thames Water, Karl Simons
claims that "nothing short of a
cultural revolution" has taken
place there over the last five
years, causing lost time inju-
ries (LTIs) to fall by more than
80% over the same period.
Here, he shares his thoughts
on four of the key elements
that have driven this cultural
change.
