Posted By Raymond Rapp
Arun

Personally, I am not in favour of 'backslapping' by providing safety awards to companies or individuals. That said, I do accept that in some circumstances it is an incentive and acknowledgement for a job well done. However, there are too many instances where these accolades have been provided for spurious reasons and, more to the point, it is doubtful whether the information supplied (or withheld) is true reflection of performance.

Ray

Posted By naveen duggal
Hi,You have an interesting point to express in your position and the circumstances in which an organisation operates. It is not just drumbeeting.
There are many sides of the Safety Awards ceremony (yearly)or by projectwise i.e. Safety performance, awards by Rospa, British Safety council,....etc are the annual safety awards for various industries, reflecting their commitment, recognition of achieving set safety standards.
Some major Oil & Gas companies in the world have these award ceremonies on a regular interval, giving away certificates, incentives for employees to encourage, motivate the good work of employees, contractors to attain a smooth operation.
As Team efforts, a ceremony of celebration , lunch or dinner party is usually hoisted.Many more ways.... Family fun day, Sports Day, Medical camps, seminars , etc.In the west, Europe, Middle-East ,Asia,South Africa, Australia such events are commonly held.

Posted By Jay Joshi
It really depends upon the applicant understanding fully the nature of the award and the reasons for applying for it.

As stated in my previous contribution,an organisation that is already certificated to OHSAS 18001, (and ISO 9001 & ISO 14001) by an accredited certification body, due to the requirements of certification, be already operating its management systems at or near excellence levels.

Therefore, such organisations will normally "sail through" and with great ease be recipients, for example the BSC's International Safety Award or ROSPA's Gold Award !

So, the question to an applicant that already is certificated to OHSAS 18001 etc what extra gain.

My view is that for such applicants, it is more to do with the "ceremonial" aspects of the award and being seen to receive a "badge of recognition" from a reputed international safety organisation. Why that is seen to be necessary when already certificated to OHSAS 18000, only the applicant knows.

Yes, for organisations that are not embracing formal management systems, such awards encourage them to do a certain minimum and should the applicant wish to do so, show continuous improvement.

Last but not least, when it comes to the "excellence awards", by all means the awards could indeed identify and reward excellence, but I would be wary of claims such as "The most prestigious global accolade an organisation can receive...." because you have no means of verifying such claims except going by the advertising or taking the trouble of being knowledgeable and informed (which is fairly easy as a lot can be researched in the web!)

Yes, setting a goal to win an award for organisations' that do not have management systems is also advantageous as it can galvanise the workforce to work to that goal.


Yes, applicants applying for excellence awards may galvanise their employees to work to a common goal.


The main aspect is that it will primarily depend upon the safety and overall organisation culture of the applicant.

By the way Arun, there is also a Campbell Award that honors companies that integrate environmental, safety, and health (EHS) management in their business models - resulting in operational excellence and improved financial performance.

http://www.campbellaward.org/index.php/site/home

In my view, if you look at the transparency of the Campbell Award, the fact that it does NOT require the applicant to subscribe to the awarding organisations specific audit system to be eligible for applying for the award, the truly international standing/nature of its "panel", you may have a pause to reflect upon my previous views on the subject of the unsubstaintiated claims of the SoH.

http://www.campbellaward...hp/site/index_review_int

There is an interesting article on safety promotion in the International Labour Organization’s Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety at:-


http://www.ilo.org/safew...uplevel_params%3DbaseUrl\1find\2context\1safety%20awards\2find\11\2isearch\11\2loadUrl\1find\\2amp%3Bload_elm\2pPath\1/english\2sort\132767\2where\1-1\2state\1f0*0|list_frm*0\\10\\12\2%26lpos%3D2%26next%3D857170697%26prev%3D857170699%26#CM


This fourth edition is currently being revised.