The power and utilities sector is experiencing rapid change, which presents both exciting opportunities and significant challenges. Companies are facing new risks such as serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs), which can undermine trust in their risk management capabilities. Despite these risks, new business opportunities are emerging. For instance, there are new supply chains, rapid recruitment, and an increase in third-party contracted work.
Understanding Operational Risks in the Power and Utilities Sector
The rapid transformation in the power and utilities sector presents both significant opportunities and substantial operational challenges. The shift is exposing companies to new risks, including serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs), which could potentially undermine trust in their ability to manage such risks. However, this transformation also unveils major business prospects like new supply chains, rapid recruitment, and an increase in third-party contracted work.
Managers now face the complicated task of implementing operating standards, enforcing operating discipline, and ensuring safe procedures amidst these rapid changes. The inclusion of new energies and technologies, along with different operating models, add to the complexity. Additionally, companies are balancing the construction of new assets while maintaining ageing ones, leading to a worrying increase in SIFs as more workers and contractors operate remotely.
Critical Actions for Preventing SIFs
Preventing SIFs requires a deep understanding of the risk profiles of both current and future operations. Identifying top risks, prioritising prevention actions, and raising awareness about critical safety barriers and controls are essential steps. However, the conventional risk suppression approaches are insufficient to handle the evolving nature and magnitude of these risks. Managers should develop their ability to recognise and focus on the most critical risks.
The high pace of transformation, compounded by a lack of time, complexity, and organisational fragmentation, demands excellence in focusing safety efforts. More specifically, efforts should be concentrated on critical risks. Developing a proactive safety culture and leadership commitment is vital.
Upskilling and Reskilling for Safety Leadership
Upskilling and reskilling managers is essential for coping with the future demands of the energy transition and major transformations required to achieve Net Zero goals. Managers are already in short supply, and mobilising them on a safety performance improvement journey must be done efficiently. It involves providing impactful support during daily management activities, improvement initiatives, and field interactions while constantly influencing team mindsets and behaviours on key risks.
Efficient upskilling can be achieved through in-situ coaching, which should be central to the safety performance improvement journey. This approach ensures rapid practical skills elevation and sustainable impact. By incorporating in-situ coaching, companies can expedite the time to impact, addressing and implementing actions quickly despite organisational complexities.
The Importance of a Structured Safety Transformation Programme
A well-designed and implemented safety transformation programme is crucial. Such programmes need to be bespoke and structured to address specific organisational areas, whether it’s a business process, a technology, or a team. This targeted approach helps streamline and accelerate the transformation process.
For instance, a study involving 12 large safety transformation programmes impacting over 25,000 managers showed that a 24-week upskilling or reskilling programme could reverse the trend of declining safety performance. It starts with diagnosing the current situation, confirming focus areas and risks, and identifying key actions. Following these steps, leadership engagement and visible actions are essential before supporting deployment.
Four Key Actions to Initiate Safety Transformation
Recognising the pressing need for transformation begins by surfacing the underlying issues. It’s critical to look beyond obvious events and consider low-intensity signals like near misses, production losses, and poor reactions to unsafe acts. Future risks should also be anticipated by analysing current KPI trends.
The next step involves articulating the business case for this transformation in the boardroom. This includes sizing the outcomes and developing a compelling narrative to align and accelerate the safety transformation programme. Companies often overlook strategic benefits in operational excellence, predictability, attractiveness, and competitiveness when focusing solely on incident reduction.
Evaluating existing initiatives and capabilities is another essential step. Companies should review current improvement efforts and assess whether these will deliver the desired results. Internal health, safety, and environment (HSE) capabilities should also be evaluated and adjusted if needed. If current capabilities fall short, external support may be required to meet the speed, depth, and nature of the required changes.
Identifying Success Factors in Safety Management
Successful safety management initiatives require a strong sense of purpose and momentum. Adapting the deployment strategy to specific organisational needs and ensuring sufficient support is vital. A critical mass of management must be upskilled or reskilled to see initial improvement signals.
For sustained impact, this critical mass must be maintained above 75%. Recognising and addressing these challenges not only enhances safety but offers strategic benefits across the organisation. Effective management upskilling and reskilling programmes equip leaders with the tools needed to navigate the evolving business landscape and drive meaningful transformation.
The ongoing transformation in the power and utilities sector is both a challenge and an opportunity. Companies must prioritise safety and focus on preventing serious injuries and fatalities. Upskilling managers and implementing effective safety programmes are key steps in achieving this goal. By addressing critical risks and enhancing safety leadership, the sector can navigate this period of change successfully. The importance of a structured approach is undeniable, as it enables companies to adapt and thrive amidst evolving operational landscapes.
