Supporting project delivery with active safety management

Safety precautions are everywhere. Whether it be a handrail and kick boards on a pump station platform or personal protective equipment and safety briefings on a construction site, safety is a critical part of all we do. Initiatives such as ‘Zero Harm’ support the importance of vigilance and safety in every aspect of working life.

Gary Neave, Director Program Delivery Services, Parsons Brinckerhoff, contributed to outstanding safety outcomes through innovation and initiative on a benchmark project in South Australia for the state’s water utility, SA Water.  As Project Director for SA Water’s $400 million North South Interconnection System Project (NSISP), Neave actively influenced team behaviours and contributed to all safety forums: in the office, in the client’s office and on site.

“By delivering consistent safety messages and driving behaviours across all project sites and personally acknowledging outstanding safety leadership and initiative I was ‘active’ and effectively communicated the expectation that team members do the same,” said Neave.

But safety is more than just completing one observation a year because it is mandated. Active safety management proactively involves every project team member in everything that influences the safety and wellbeing of the team members, their colleagues and the project’s end users.

Active safety management

Being active in the management of safety goes beyond mere compliance. It requires engaging broadly to support colleagues, construction contractors, clients, project owners and operators, and the community to deliver safety outcomes. Everyone from the CEO to the project director to the graduate engineer plays a significant role.

Establishing an effective framework that supports an active safety management culture is arguably more important than setting the project or business unit budget and schedule. Senior management plays a key role in ensuring safety’s ongoing inclusion in the culture, discipline and behaviours of staff. And every team member is part of the safety team.

The key components of active safety management include:

• ensuring every hazard, no matter how minor, is identified, recorded, considered and mitigated;
• reporting and investigating every incident and near miss accurately;
• supporting colleagues every step of the way if they feel at risk, unwell or are hurt, however slightly;
• maintaining a consistent approach to the safety of all team members, regardless of their role or location;
• collaborating widely to ensure representatives from all project stages are included in all safety forums (eg, construction and operations staff must attend Safety in Design sessions when there is still opportunity to influence concept and preliminary design);
• implementing a charter or similar agreement that establishes a behaviour platform across the team; and
• building a team culture that truly supports the behaviours required for successful delivery (eg, no blame and reward/celebration of safety achievements.

A major project delivery team typically includes a group of safety professionals who identify and assess risks and hazards, write and implement work method statements, educate and advise team members, and monitor performance and compliance. Good safety outcomes result from rigorous compliance to mature safety policy, proven standards and comprehensive procedures.

“The challenge and innovation for active safety management is to move away from a compliance-based culture to one where everyone is actively thinking and involved,” said Neave.

This approach is supported by two elements: everyone’s actions are an example to others, and everyone at all levels participates in ongoing, active engagement.

Active safety management on NSISP

SA Water’s $400 million NSISP is a crucial component of the Government of South Australia and SA Water’s Network Water Security Program, a long-term strategy to deliver a flexible, integrated solution for water transfer and distribution until 2050 and beyond. It has upgraded and connected metropolitan Adelaide’s northern and southern water supply networks. This has given SA Water the flexibility it needed to use its water resources efficiently and has increased the community’s security of water supply.

NSISP was delivered by an integrated project team whose main resources were selected on a best-for-project basis, regardless of their source or employer.

Parsons Brinckerhoff provided key members of the project leadership team, design services, construction and commissioning resources, and supported the stakeholder engagement and project controls teams throughout the project life cycle. It worked with the client and partner professional services providers to ensure exemplary safety outcomes for all stakeholders.

Neave said the innovative approach taken to safety heavily influenced the project’s safety outcome.

“Safety was embedded in the culture through team behaviour; a safety charter; and continuous engagement with the contractors, the client and all members of the team regardless of their role and location.

“This resulted in safety being every project team member’s responsibility, from the designers holding Safety in Design workshops to technical managers and contractors talking about safety and applying policy and process to site activity,” explained Neave.

The NSISP team used SA Water’s existing safety management systems and developed new safety initiatives during the project delivery phase to meet the challenge of a complex and high-risk work environment. They focused on continuous improvement and introduced new initiatives that augmented the existing systems to ensure strong safety performance and culture across the entire project.

The safety group, supported by the wider NSISP team, established systems that encouraged shared learning and a ‘safety first’ culture. The complexity of the construction, challenges and high-risk nature of work across multiple sites throughout metropolitan Adelaide necessitated active safety awareness and a commitment to meeting daily site safety challenges. Contractors in the field, SA Water staff and NSISP senior management supported these aims by upholding the Zero Harm vision and considering the future.

Celebrating safety successes reinforced the active safety management message. A major safety milestone was reached in February 2012 when the NSISP team celebrated one million hours of work completed safely, with zero recorded lost-time injuries.

“The event acknowledged the efforts of the entire team and reinforced the team safety culture,” said Neave.

The team celebrated at a BBQ for more than 400 workers across eight sites. The festivities included a motivational speech on safety from leadership and an NSISP drink bottle inscribed with a safety message for over 1000 safety contributors.

NSISP was handed over on time, within budget and with outstanding safety outcomes. The project achieved zero recorded lost-time injuries and a benchmark low ‘all recorded injury’ frequency rate over more than 1.8 million hours worked on highly complex and challenging tasks across more than 120 sites. The excellent safety record continues well into operations, which is a testament to the rigour applied to the management of safety from concept to handover. 

The future of active safety management

With safety, success for one is a success for all. A true active safety management project regards safety as a top priority at all times.

And active safety management will become increasingly important. It will include all the currently practised elements of good communication, Safety in Design in initial stages following through to construction and completion, commitment from leadership - including the client - to drive initiative and embedding safety in team culture. Innovations in technology and systems offer exciting possibilities, such as safety reporting through mobile devices making critical information, reports, guidelines and notices available in real time.

Several elements are essential to ensuring active safety management is incorporated in projects.

“It is important to break through barriers that prevent collaboration among multiple partners, to reflect on lessons learnt from previous projects, to incorporate behavioural charters in contractual frameworks and to drive individuals’ KPIs beyond their technical role to ensure shared safety responsibility,” said Neave.

Every stakeholder can contribute to safety. When everyone, whether they be client, community member or worker, is active and accountable, safety becomes more than a plan and register. It is inherent in everything - every project planning document, every budget, every conversation. Zero Harm is no longer an aspiration - it is real.