World Safety Day
Safety: A journey that never ends
Aramco celebrates World Day for Safety and Health at Work: anticipate, prepare, respond
It is easy to think of safety as nothing more than a set of rules to be followed, yet the reality is that the workplace is constantly evolving.
April 28 is World Day for Safety and Health at Work, a reminder of the importance of treating safety as an integral part of life.
Safety is not an off-the-shelf commodity that can simply be implemented, and a problem that is solved. It is a continuous, never-ending process. Nothing highlights the need for the evaluation of safety and health best practices more than the manner in which the world has had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Protecting everyone
As the world faces one of its greatest health challenges, this day focuses attention on the efforts being made to defeat the pandemic while maintaining a work environment that protects everyone.
Throughout its 87-year history, Aramco has embraced an approach to safety that has allowed it to tackle challenges time and again as the nature of work changes, technology transforms the way in which people work, and industrial development revolutionizes the trajectory of the world.
Safe practices and understanding the role of workers in the safety process, their interaction with equipment, and management oversight have all undergone substantial change since the arrival of the company’s first safety engineer in 1940.
Inclusive, engaging
The emphasis at that time was to manage how people and machinery came into contact. This was communicated using simple hand drawn posters by the company’s safety engineers. Fast forward 81 years and it is clear Aramco’s approach has become a lot more inclusive and engaging through regular safety meetings, the appointment of visible safety leadership, and celebrations of safety successes.
While the company has come a long way in terms of improving safety for its workers, Aramco still faces challenges. Aspects of technology make workplaces safer by limiting the need for people to put themselves in hazardous situations, however, these technologies introduce new and unfamiliar conditions that require regular appraisal to ensure safety is not compromised.
Committed to safety
As Aramco celebrates World Day for Safety and Health at Work, employees and contractors are reminded that while markets might fluctuate, business practices might evolve, and technologies might advance, one thing remains constant: the company’s commitment to safety.
Speaking on the importance of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Ghassan G. Abulfaraj, manager of the Loss Prevention Department, said, “This occasion provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the importance of safety management as part of our business.
The prevention of work-related occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities is not optional, it is an essential and integral part of Aramco’s values and operational sustainability.
By raising an awareness of safety, we are reminding ourselves of the hard work needed to ensure that we send each and every employee and contractor home safely, every day.
— Ghassan G. Abulfaraj