#SafetyforLife: Safety is everyone’s responsibility
Lauren van der Merwe, an environmental specialist at AECOM, conducts fire safety training.
Safety is extremely important to us here at AECOM — which is why we both took on roles as the safety, health and environment (SH&E) coordinators for AECOM’s Sanabis, Bahrain, office in the Middle East as an addendum to our existing duties.
Before taking on the SH&E coordinator role, I (Anna) understood the importance of SH&E awareness and promotion, but afterwards, I became more aware of the SH&E risks related to everyday tasks that can be easily avoided if just a bit more thought is put into everything we do. For example, before, I would not have noticed anyone walking up or down the stairs while reading something on their smart phone — unfortunately, this is a common practice everywhere. Now, I immediately react and point out the risks of such behavior to any person I encounter. The most important lesson I have gained in this role is that SH&E is everyone’s responsibility, and we all should work together to improve health and safety in our environment — whether at work or at home.
As an environmental specialist, I (Lauren) have always been aware that health and safety incidents can often result in environmental damage — specifically, on construction sites. This inspired me to become more involved in reporting on health and safety issues well before they lead to an actual incident. After taking on the SH&E coordinator role, I have become more aware of office-based health and safety risks, and I have found that planning and awareness are key in preventing accidents. I also find that is it important to promote positive health and safety behavior and to provide incentives for staff.
As SH&E coordinators in the office, our day-to-day mission is to remain aware of any health and safety issues and react accordingly. We are also responsible for new-employee SH&E inductions as well as site inspections and providing monthly progress reports to the regional AECOM health and safety teams, as well as reporting on the global database. We both prepared an updated office SH&E plan, which was first created three years ago and is updated annually. We also recently provided a similar plan for AECOM’s office in Seef, Bahrain.
We conduct monthly health and safety inspections of the AECOM offices in Bahrain, which we use to jointly prepare a monthly report for AECOM’s SH&E leaders. The report provides details into any SH&E issues or problems encountered that month; describes how they have been resolved or will be resolved; and provides any other relevant SH&E information such as upcoming training, new-employee inductions, recorded positive behaviors or changes to legislation. We recognize that it is important that these reports are delivered on time and carried out in a professional manner as they are provided to AECOM regional management, and the data is added to a global database. Our diligence in this and other safety efforts has been recognized by our colleagues and safety management, honoring our office as an exemplar for safety in the Middle East region.
An example of an issue we recently reported on, and corrected, involved a raised step at the door to the toilets in our office. All employees had grown accustomed to the step at the doorway; we did not identify it as a hazard. Last November, we had a visitor in our office and when he was heading to the toilet, he missed the raised step at the door and nearly fell down, which could have caused an injury. That same day, we recorded the near miss in the global SH&E database, purchased warning tape and marked the higher step at the toilet doors accordingly, as shown in the photos below.
Separately, we also create reports on positive health and safety behavior. For example, during an onsite inspection by Lauren, one of the engineers suggested allowing staff to use the fire extinguishers that were due for service to practice in preparation for an emergency. Since this suggestion would enable staff to better react in a real-life situation, it was put into the database, which highlights positive health and safety behavior and provides incentives for other staff members to promote health and safety on a daily basis.
For SH&E inductions, project managers inform us of any anticipated office visitors or when new employees are starting. One of us will then show the visitor or employee around the office, pointing out all the emergency exits, the location of the fire assembly point, first aid boxes, the location of fire extinguishers, toilets, the kitchen and office plans. Additionally, for new employees, we discuss the office SH&E plan and the procedures to follow in an emergency. We also have an SH&E orientation checklist we use to ensure all aspects are covered from day one.
Finally, we have a number of site offices in Bahrain where AECOM engineers are supervising various contractors ranging from primary infrastructure construction projects to marine projects such as dredging and reclamation. We inspect these sites, prepare brief reports on any SH&E issues noticed there, distribute the report to relevant parties, then follow up to ensure the issues have been resolved.
Anna Bagnowska is a traffic studies team leader at AECOM with more than 11 years of experience in traffic-related studies. She gained her work experience working in Poland, the U.K. and the Middle East. In her free time, she enjoys diving and running, and also likes to travel to new countries and new places.
Linkedin: Anna Bagnowska
Lauren van der Merwe is an environmental specialist at AECOM with seven years of experience working in Southern Africa and the Middle East in environmental consulting. She is a keen horse rider and diver in her spare time and she enjoys traveling the world.
LinkedIn: Lauren van der Merwe