Raising awareness on a safety culture is a must

The concept of ‘safety culture’ plays a vital role in today’s society. With safety being an increasingly important consideration, individual awareness makes it more relevant and inspires people to think about veiled dangers and impending hazards. Even though the key objectives of basic safety laws are helpful in protecting people from incidents, the number of instances being reported every year is increasingly worrying and points to the fact that there is a lack of awareness.

Creating the awareness of risks is part of any developmental initiative and benefits people, as they realise that risks are not only for them, but have an equal impact on the people around them. Although safety norms are part of the basic requirements in trade and businesses, it has become a personal distress in the evolving trend of thinking and perceptions.

Having a strong command of health and safety concepts helps organisations and individuals a lot in terms of developing a safety culture. However, the prevailing safety culture needs a stimulating shift, stretching its benefits at personal as well as professional levels. The safety concept, especially at construction sites, require a much more careful approach, as an established policy on health and safety brings great relief to the working community. However, small-scale activities lack adequate supervision, hence people tend to ignore basic safety guidelines.

The infrastructure facilities need higher standards in terms of safety and should reflect in the behaviour of people. Ignoring potential hazards is mainly due to the absence of awareness, and this is why training is key to making people aware of its relevance.

Meanwhile, the installation of safety equipment should be mandatory for apartments and villas, and it is vital for residents to embrace these safety measures. Their familiarity in using safety equipment will in turn encourage residents to be proactive.

As part of corporate social responsibility (CSR), social organisations should emphasise the concept of safety on a broader level in order to draw the attention of society, thus raising awareness. The key is to understand the pros and cons of basic safety guidelines and how to utilise this knowledge for the benefit of not only yourself but your community as well.

— The reader is an Indian quality manager based in Muscat, Oman