Occupational Safety and Health in a green economy

Occupational Safety and Health in a green economy

April 28th is World Day for Safety & Health at Work. The 2012 World Day for Safety and Health at Work focuses on the promotion of occupational safety and health (OSH) in a green economy.

There is a shift in the world to a greener and more sustainable economy. However, even if certain jobs are considered to be “green”, the technologies used may protect the environment but not be safe at all.
Our industry is part of the green economy as we leverage technology to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and improve productivity. IT industry has one of the lowest environment footprint compared to other industries. And our jobs are supposed to be safer and healthier compared to other industries.
However, we have found over a period of time that certain specific health and safety risks exist in our industry. There is an element of risk when we have thousands of people working in a single building or facility. When an emergency strikes this can hinder or slow down response.
Modern buildings also have very sophisticated structural, mechanical, electrical and electronic equipments working towards providing the utmost comfort and safety. The people who operate such equipment also need to be cared for. A good example would be our sewage water treatment plants which treat and recycle water for re-use in toilets and gardens. This entails working with chemicals in a fairly tough environment. Our systems must ensure their health and safety also.
Our Occupational Health & Safety Management System not only covers associates but also our vendor partners like housekeeping staff, electricians, plumbers, security staff, drivers, cafeteria and pantry workers etc.

That is why we are proud of achieving:

OHSAS certification of eight of our facilities in India: TCO, MEPZ, CCC, BTP, HJ, ICCTECH, TCPX and GTP spanning the cities of Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata.
ISO 14001 certification of 6 of our facilities in India: TCO – Chennai, CCC – Coimbatore, MEPZ – Chennai, GTP and TCPX – Kolkata, and BTP – Bangalore.
With this expansion we will now have over 35,000 associates covered under Occupational Health & Safety Management System and over 3.75 million square feet of our office space covered under Environment Management System.
We would like you too to contribute by:

1. Understanding and recognizing occupational hazards at our workplace.
2. Reporting any unsafe or hazardous environment, incident or object appropriately.
3. Helping ourselves to take better care of our safety and health at work.

Be aware of your surroundings. Be safe. Stay healthy.

For more info :http://www.ilo.org/safework/events/meetings/WCMS_173690/lang--en/index.htm