Everyone is familiar with the safety record board, a point of reference for how many days a site has gone without an accident. This board is the result of health and safety’s rising prominence since the early days of the industrial revolution. It symbolises how far we’ve come to ensure safe working conditions.

Yet it is also symbolic of the rubber-stamping culture that often envelops safety exercises. It’s time for a more proactive approach to health and safety, such as what industrial packaging manufacturer PackSolve is creating.

At first glance, calling Health, Safety, Environment & Quality (SHEQ) reactive seems contradictory. Surely safety needs to be anticipated and therefore is a proactive activity? But the distinction between reactive and proactive safety measures depends on how you measure it, explained PackSolve’s Group SHEQ Manager, Chris Fritz: “Most safety is measured on lagging indicators, such as the number of accidents and lost time measures. These are reactive – you can’t tell if your safety programme is working until there is an accident. The proactive approach focuses on leading indicators, such as accidents avoided and numbers of inspections completed. It’s about preventing accidents by finding close calls.”

Learn more: https://packsolve.co.za/how-proactive-safety-creates-a-unified-company/