ZOOM ON THE SUBJECT OF THE SAFETY CAPTAIN INITIATIVE
With a view to limiting the number of accidents and involving managers and teams in health & safety matters, axione is launching the “safety captain” initiative.
Gaëtan Nicolas
Director of Operations for the Southeast of France within the Axione Production Management Team
WHY APPOINT A SAFETY CAPTAIN IN EACH TEAM?
By late 2019, a year that had seen a high number of accidents, the production management committee felt this was an essential step forward. First we created a working group, made up of two people from each region.
This group was given the task of coming up with ideas for raising awareness among employees about health and safety matters. These ideas would then be put to the management committee. Notwithstanding the wide range of health and safety measures implemented by Axione/BYCN, the working group (technical staff and supervisors) were clear that our teams and our managers wanted to become more involved in this area.
This is how the group came up with the idea of giving one person in each team direct responsibility for health and safety.
What does a safety captain have to do?
The Safety Captain is responsible for disseminating Axione’s safety culture on the ground.
Like the captain of a sports team, the Safety Captain acts as a link between management and the players on the ground.
He or she acts as a spokesperson with responsibility for advocating good practice in relation to safety and withdrawal rights, who also has the power to question and flag up potential risks. On the ground, no work should begin without a Safety Captain.
The Safety Captain ensures that a proper safety briefing takes place at the start of each day, and that safety regulations are being adhered to everywhere on site. He or she will also provide support to new employees to help facilitate their integration.
How are they appointed?
Safety Captains are not assigned by the management team, but chosen by their peers. Seniority is not a prerequisite for taking on this role. The essential qualities of a Safety Captain are above all, enthusiasm for the role and the ability to set an example and get information across to other people.
The role of Safety Captain does not have to be held by one person indefinitely, the idea is that it can rotate between different team members.
In an ideal world, we would hope that all technical staff might one day take on the role of Safety Captain.