Eva Trulsson: Flavour of Life as a Safety Professional
Studying risk management and safety engineering at university first triggered Eva's interest in safety as a career. Here she gives a flavour of life as a safety professional in a high-risk industry where a penchant for communication is an asset and highlights why getting the leaders on board, making it easy to do right and highlighting the positives are her tools of choice for strengthening the safety culture.
Eva Trullson
Vice President Responsible Care Health, Safety & Environment, Perstorp AB
Q.
What inspires you about your role in health and safety in the chemical industry?
I graduated from university with a Master of Science in risk management and safety engineering, so I've always been involved in safety. But I think what inspires me working in the chemical industry is that safety is really high on the agenda, which is great when this is your area of interest. Also, it's a role where we always strive for improvement as a company, but at an industry level there's also a willingness for companies to be transparent and work together on improving safety. I think it's a real privilege to work in an area where you can share good practices as well as failures. It's a win-win approach as when safety is compromised, it reflects on the industry, and we all suffer the reputational consequences.
Q.
You mention good practice. What current safety developments do you feel add value?
I think there is undoubtedly more understanding of where the role of safety culture sits in risk management and that a strong safety culture equals good performance, whether that's through fewer accidents or from a workforce that feels valued and happy. Having safety rules and a robust framework in place is essential, but it's equally important that employees follow the rules because they genuinely believe that they are in place to keep them safe. It's that cultural shift to developing a strong personal commitment and understanding of why safety is vital. I believe that this shift in mindset is what can get us to an excellent safety performance level.
Q.
Are there any practical developments that have helped shift the perception of safety behaviour?
One practical achievement has been to develop customised safety assessment tools that allow us to really analyse our system and safety mindset in more detail. This has been a powerful device to develop a stronger safety culture as it shows the tangible impact of each safety improvement. It also gives all teams a measurable framework to develop ideas on how to improve the safety culture. We have been working intensively with strengthening the health & safety culture over the past years but it's important to understand that this journey is a marathon and not a sprint. As a safety professional, it's my responsibility to ensure that health and safety stays on the top of the agenda and that we don't take our foot off the gas as soon as we see that things are starting to go in the right direction.
Q.
What is your view on addressing the psychosocial issues in safety programmes?
We never talk about safety in isolation. We always talk about health and safety as connected needs. Mental health is an integral part of that, but it presents its own complexities. Unlike putting on a pair of safety goggles for protection, mental health problems are less evident to both see and prevent. But I still believe that there are certain things that you can add to your framework that supports good physical and mental health. First, helping an employee understand their rights and how they can get support with all their health issues - within that framework, assisting managers in developing a clear understanding of the problems and how they can support and encourage an open dialogue on health issues. As we had already developed some working practices within our health and safety framework, when COVID-19 came along, we could react quickly to form safety guidelines and risks assessments to support how employees dealt with any issues working from home. We made sure managers were asking the right questions to assess whether employees had the right equipment, workspace, how they felt and what support they needed. Also that they were doing so consistently and not just as a one-off action. I'm really proud of how we dealt with the situation and our achievements in always being one step ahead. It was a real opportunity for us as a company to show that health and safety come first.
"Leaders must embrace why health and safety are essential and show visible commitment."
– Eva Trullson, Vice President Responsible Care Health, Safety & Environment, Perstorp AB
Q.
How can we develop a more sustainable health and safety culture?
Leadership support is essential in developing a health and safety culture that is sustainable. Without this support, you can't create the right culture to understand the importance of safe working practices and how to react. Communicating the benefits of safe working practices in a way that people can understand and visualise is a powerful trigger for behavioural change. It's then a question of trusting in people's ability to take independent action to remain safe. This trust was demonstrated during the COVID-19 crisis and is something we all need to continue to encourage. It's also important that any safety programme engages with the supply chain so that health and safety standards and needs are understood. By keeping all stakeholders in the loop, we build a fairer and more sustainable health and safety programme for all.
Q.
The use of technology was a big part of companies' ability to cope with COVID-19 restrictions. What impact has technology had on health and safety developments in general?
Yes, the travel restrictions meant everything shifted to digital. This remains an excellent short-term result, but when it comes to building a good health and safety culture face to face meetings and interactions are critical. Plus, we've yet to see the full consequences of the lack of human interaction many have suffered. What's also worrying is that digital success stories during COVID-19 mean many companies will see it as a reason to shift to online training, e-learning and digital meetings. While this no doubt opens up new and improved opportunities, at the same time, it can lead to a tick box approach that doesn't create the value required for developing a robust health and safety culture. So it's essential that any digital shift also maintains quality.
Q.
So are you saying technology is of limited benefit to health and safety programmes?
Not at all. There are some fantastic ways the use of technology will significantly benefit health and safety programmes. For instance, wearable technology and its ability to collect data such as peoples' location and surrounding conditions in the event of an accident or injury. As a safety professional I work a lot with data and with better data I will be able to make more informed decisions so that we can focus our efforts where it really matters. I also believe that virtual reality (VR) will be of increasing use in the future for the purpose of training and increasing risk awareness. As our operations become safer and the incidents less frequent, while this is a good thing, it also means employees may become less aware of safety risks. VR can help replicate the exact feeling of being in a dangerous situation so we don't forget the risks. I think this ability of technology to improve risk awareness and sensitivity has exciting potential.
Q.
Sustainability is crucial when building a health and safety culture. What would be your top three best practices that other safety professionals can learn from?
Personally, I think for any health and safety programme to be successful, it's imperative that leadership from the board to management level is engaged and connected. Leaders must embrace why health and safety are essential and show visible commitment. In combination with that, doing the right thing must be made easy. That means investing in a solid framework, having the right support structures and learning processes in places across the whole eco-system. Finally, make it a positive journey! We are working on this right now, looking at ways to highlight positive actions to create better safety awareness. While it's vital to look at accident data, I feel it's equally important to inspire; provide good examples of those showing the rest of us what it means to care for yourself and others; highlight their actions and let them shine.
"We never talk about safety in isolation. We always talk about health and safety as connected needs."
– Eva Trullson, Vice President Responsible Care Health, Safety & Environment, Perstorp AB
Q.
Do you have any examples of success in raising awareness of good safety practice?
We recently ran a campaign to ask employees to nominate colleagues as Care Ambassadors based on health and safety initiatives. It didn't have to be huge initiatives; it could have been something small but useful, such as ensuring hand sanitisers were always full and readily available during the pandemic. We got so many nominations; it was incredible. There was one female employee who, through her own initiative and without any previous experience, conducted interviews with colleagues on their views about health and safety and shared them with others. It was so inspiring and, for me, embodies the essence of a strong safety culture. We got excellent feedback and now publish stories on our intranet so that everyone can see that they can improve health and safety even in small ways.
Q.
One of the reasons for talking to women in safety roles is to celebrate their achievements as part of International Women's Day. So what would be your message to others looking to pursue a career in health and safety?
My first message is that if safety is something you are interested in, then go for it! The world needs more people who are passionate about and interested in safety issues. Then make sure you surround yourself with people who believe in you and get away from those who don't. I guess both of these messages apply to men as well as women. But I think especially for women with young children looking to advance in their careers since our ambitions are still often challenged in a completely different way than men's. Networks are always a good idea, both from a professional and personal aspect. They are an excellent way to keep up to date with global developments on safety issues and share experiences with like-minded professionals. And finally, learn how to communicate on all levels in a convincing way; you don't become successful by flying solo but by making health and safety everybody's business.