Transforming Driving Safety: Strategies and Insights for Corporates

Mr. Santosh, thank you so much for joining us on the Safety Connect podcast. It's a pleasure to have you with us today. Thank you, thank you very much. Thanks for inviting me. It's a pleasure for me to be here. You are conducting a webinar with a podcast with so many eminent speakers, and thank you very much for considering me for that. Thanks a lot. So, before I jump into our invigorating conversation, let me give our audience a quick introduction about you. So, Mr. Santosh Barma is an accomplished HSE and sustainability professional with over 20 years of experience. He's worked across diverse sectors, including pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals, and food and beverage industries. Currently, he serves as HSE culture and performance coach with the Sanofi Group, leading Asia, Pacific, and Middle East countries within the global operations team. Mr. Santosh has a proven track record in implementing international standards and driving sustainability strategies. He is an eminent speaker on HSE and sustainability topics. He has been recognized as a great Indian Green Leader and is a recipient of several global awards, including the Global HSE Award at Sanofi. Mr. Santosh is passionate about inspiring positive growth, strategic thinking, and unlocking potential in young professionals and leaders. He is also a marathoner, trekker, and budding author. So, thank you so much once again for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you very much, Tanmay. Thanks for this detailed introduction. Thank you very much. So, Mr. Santosh, what got you into safety? Can you tell us a little bit about your background and why you got into safety? Yeah, well, so I'll give you earlier, I was not knowing about anything about this profession. I was doing my bachelor's in chemistry honors at that time. My brother actually, he came into this field. Then I learned about this fascinating profession, and then I started my career as a fire safety engineer. I basically started as a fire safety engineer. And then I kept on learning, undergoing continued my education and training. It's still undergoing. So, I transitioned from fire engineer to safety engineer and learned about the environment and then sustainability. And that's how my career progressed so far. So, that was done. One thing that was very powerful happened with me, okay? So, when I came into this field, so I came for the good profession and career, but when I came, I was like surprised with the kind of impact this profession can make on the people, on the planet, okay? And you know, still, I find every day there is an opportunity to create that impact on everyone. So, that's how we started, and that gives me so many energies, so much energy to drive and move forward. I'll give you some of the examples that I faced or experienced. Someone's life got saved due to a road accident, and the family members were sharing their expression. The wife sharing her expression, like "aap loon ki wajase meera suhaag bache gaya" (you saved my husband's life), okay? So, that kind of expression and feeling, that gives me goosebumps and keeps me moving every day, okay? So, that's how I came, and still continuing, because every day, what we do, it's not about saving one injury or saving one life; it's about the entire family, collectively, their happiness, and everything. So, that's the positive thing about this profession. Absolutely. And so, even if one accident happens, the ramifications of that are so severe. The families are affected for this. So, yes, I think it's such an important profession, and something that also a lot of safety professions need to understand and be very foresighted about, whatever they're taking up, the quality of the initiatives, and so on and so forth. Yes. So, that's very important. Every day, and every effort, everything counts. Someday, something will come as a positive improvement. And you implemented some very interesting road safety initiatives at your company, so I was wondering, like, what was that like? Right, like, what is the genesis of those initiatives that you have implemented? How did you go about implementing those? So, it was like we care for all our employees; we are a healthcare company, and that's in our gene, okay, in our DNA, Sanofi's DNA, to protect our people, okay. And we are here to serve the community only, and to protect our protection of our people, this is paramount. So, we started working on that. And in India, per se, we know the complexity of road conditions, the road risk is multifold, multifold, if you compare from Western countries. And in Sanofi also, India accidents were contributing, and there was a strong need that was felt by the local management, it was felt by the global management, and then how we started, we designed our entire program, and that has given good results here. So, that was a very structured approach. So, it was like a combination of the technical guidance support from the global team and the commitment of the local leadership team, combining both, that we could translate learnings from the global team, translated into the Indian scenario, and implemented here, that gave a positive result. So, that was really transformative for us. And also, Mr. Santosh, I also noticed that in a lot of companies, which are also part of a major, larger group, right, whatever challenges are faced within one particular country, what is topmost priority there may not always be the priority for the group level, right? So, do you, so what is your thought about that, right, like, how does a company, or India-specific business, try to also influence the global agenda or get global buy-in for a very pressing local matter? What is your thought on that? So, in that, I'll say, we are fortunate in Sanofi; there was no point where we need to press each other, okay? So, be it the global team or local team, it's about complementing each other, okay? So, the global team and their technical export team, they are always supportive, where they're available to the local team, facing what challenges the local teams are facing, and to resolve it, local teams, they understand, and learn, and share each other, and that's how collectively, both teams are working. It's not about the local team, global team, putting their thought agenda, priorities, or local team struggling with their priorities. It's about combining together, they work, and that's how collectively we've been. So, what you're saying is, even at a global level, they are very receptive to what the local needs are, and hence you're able to work together and help prioritize this as an agenda for that particular country? Yeah, of course, so I'm part of the global agency team, and that's our priority to go, understand the local situation, and how best we can support the local teams, so that's how we work. So, it's a two-way approach, and both teams are working hand-in-hand, that's how we are creating this miraculous result, not only in India, in all the places we work. So, that's the beauty of Sanofi. Got it. So, since road safety is a topic which is very, very close to you, and something you're very passionate about, I want to understand what are those specific initiatives that you had implemented in your company, which have been instrumental in reducing road accidents? Yes. So, if we talk about any safety systems, so it's not about a few of those interventions, because it's like driving a car with missing components or parts. You can't drive, right? So, same thing applies with safety or road safety systems as well. Means we need a complete ecosystem, okay? And when we are planning for transforming the road safety journey of an entire organization scale, okay, then it's not that easy. It requires a lot of planning, monitoring programs. But key, and the basis is the PDCA cycle, what we call it, plan, do, check, act. But in this case also, to move that needle, leadership commitment is most important. That is required. I'll give you some examples. What we implemented in India. So, for the policy perspective, okay, so broadly, if I have, I'll classify all those interventions, then this is like policy. We've worked extensively on the capability building. We've worked on the monitoring programs, monitoring, and measuring of our impact and effect on the safer vehicle, and the disciplinary policy, and the reward and recognition, like that. I'll briefly touch on the policy. We were already having a global policy for road safety. But we know in India, the road safety situation is different due to the high population, the second-highest road network we have, the highest number of fatalities we have, and there are various regions to it. Maybe different types of vehicle traffic mix we have, have a very high number of two-wheelers or motorbikes are there. And all this makes its combination more vulnerable. So, we thought, and we plan to do more, what it was done. Okay. So, then we developed an India-specific policy, considering those requirements from the global policy as well. But certainly, India-specific features or risks to address those risks, certain actions were included in that. So, you can say global policy, global policy combining with the Indian situation. So, that policy was drafted, and with the leadership support, that entire policy was deployed. One example, on the second intervention, if I talk about the capability building. So, capability building is one of the capabilities, one of the weak areas in road safety. Infrastructure, in reinforcement enforcement of law, all these things are in the hands of the government, but education is something apart from the government, as corporates, also we can do, NGOs can do, and there are other stakeholders, they have a very various role to play. What we started, so we were having multiple levels of training programs, starts from onboarding training, okay, so people coming, joining from other companies, sometimes fresher's, sometimes coming from. So, very day one itself, they are undergoing this onboarding training, that makes them, what is expected from them, what is an office-specific requirement expected from them, even for the road safety, okay? So, that is done. Then, within one year, they need to go under defensive driving techniques. And that gives them all full volume expectation and tools to equip themselves, so that they can get protected in different adverse situations, okay? Third is on the Periodical Trainings. Periodical training was mainly virtual sessions. And in this training, we were covering, like learnings from accidents within Sanofi, within India, or within Sanofi Network outside India, or outside Sanofi accidents, learning from those accidents, the basic thing that person must follow. So, these are small trainings, one hour every quarter, that reminder, that happens, okay? And then there was practical training. Practical training is basically, in practical training, certain things are that is knowledge, and there is a skill. Knowledge we can impart by giving them classroom training, session, coaching, discussion, okay? Skills we can't give. Skills are basically person who do, and then experience, and learn, okay? Like I'll give you an example of braking distance. So, we can give during the classroom, we say you apply front brake and rear brake both in the combination. But how much we have to press on the front brake, how much we have to press on the rear brake, that required to get an optimum level where we have a smaller braking distance. So, to do that, practice is important. So, practical training is done, and that frequency is three years, three to five years, depending on the person's vulnerability or history of, and the quality of driving. One more intervention we did. So, these were the fourth level of capability building. One more intervention we have, that we measure the driving behavior of a person, and we classify, identify as high-risk drivers, okay? If there's certain people who are having their driving is good, everything they are following good, but there are certain things in their driving behavior that makes them vulnerable, okay? Or they are certain criteria like if there is a history of violating traffic norms, over-speeding, or within a year, two accidents happening, okay? So, in those situations, there are certain criteria defined. Someone is meeting that criteria, then those people get identified as a high driver, and for them, there is specific training. So, that's how, from beginners, there is one, regular one, practical training, and then high-risk driver training. So, combining all these things, leading to behavior change. So, these are all on capability building. Same thing, after doing all this, how much result it is impacting, or yielding on the ground, that is also important to check. So, we have started a monitoring system. We call it MySafetyIndex, in that we quantified all those road safety requirements, and HSE leadership, and behavior, what we expect from our people. So, that were quantified, and metrics was made. So, we started implementation of MySafetyIndex, that gave us the depth and width of the implementation of the entire program, in which part of the country, within which team, what is the depth of the MyRoad safety program implementation. That is started giving. So, that measurement was important, so that we can take appropriate excellence. And then, last was on the maintenance of vehicles, and reward and recognition. And that was both ways. So, on identifying positive behaviors, rewarding them, and there were certain behaviors which were detrimental to the safety culture. So, disciplinary actions were also provisioned for them. So, managing positive behavior, and managing negative behavior. So, that was also done. Combining all these, yielded results for us. Yep. So, can you talk a little bit about, like, what was the tangible result that you saw at the end of this, after implementing this program? So, I'll give you. So, there were a lot of improvements we got. Okay. So, on the number of lost-time injuries, that significantly got down. Okay. Number of near misses starting going up. Okay. More we created that awareness, then people started, and it was important for them to report everything transparently, getting their data, reaching, analyzing the data, investigating those accidents, okay, that was important. So, we got the positive sign, the improvement in leading, uh, this near-miss reports from the sales team, so that was positive, and simultaneously, lost-time or higher severity accident numbers were starting to get down, okay? So, that was a big improvement, plus, plus. When I was discussing with one of our managers, we started a program called managers' coaching, road safety coaching. When field managers, when they go in the field, they do exclusive sessions with their teams on road safety. And in that, they were talking, while joint field working, how was their observation, was there an improvement area, or was there a positive thing, okay, during those, uh, exclusive discussions, they talk, they don't talk about business, and once we implemented this program, then I was just casually talking with one of the managers, okay, it's important for us, when we implement new programs, then keep on assessing whether it is working, if you don't do that, then after some time, it becomes a tick-box ritual, okay? So, it's important for us, HSE leaders, also to keep on evaluating the implementation of those programs. So, I was, uh, interacting with one of the business managers, I asked him, how, what do you feel about this program, when you do the road safety coaching, so, is it working, or do you feel it's an extra workload for you, and you know what was his reply? So, we are very happy with this program, because this gives me one more opportunity, and point of contact with my team. And during this time, we don't talk about business, we don't talk about any other routine steps. These discussions are purely between leader and his person, and his team member, on his safety, and well-being. That gives good connect, and engagement within the team, and with the organization. People started feeling, they are more valued, and their safety, their well-being, is important for the company. So, that gave, and helped on the positive morale. Certainly, the number of lost days gone down, so people were more, number of days in the field. So, those days' parameters were also there. But it was positive, and visible culture change, we saw after implementing all these programs. It took us time, and certainly, it's not a one-shot activity. It's a continuous journey. But we have seen, the deeper the program is getting, penetrating, more transparent, better culture, number of near misses getting reported, serious accidents getting down, people's attendance, presence during the trainings, and leaders' speak, and leaders' engagement, that kept on going upper side. Yeah, it's very nice to hear about the feedback that that person gave, right, and I think that, in itself, talks about the success of the program, which was implemented. So, what are the challenges that you faced while implementing this, and how did you overcome those? Yeah, so, there were many, and we, when we talk about, uh, the challenges, and mainly it was related to the mindset of people, okay? Getting, getting a hardware is very easy, just to spend money, and you get that hardware, but changing mind is very difficult, okay? Fortunately, uh, it was there, are not so many people, but still, I'll say, two challenges, I feel, might be relevant for other corporates as well. So, one was, nothing can be done in India. So, that kind of mindset. And people were talking like this. So, when we maintain the speed from the vehicle ahead of me, someone else gets entered into it. Even if I am following the road safety norm, others are not following, then what is the point in having India, where an accident is bound to happen, this will keep on happening, we can't stop it, okay? So, that kind of mindset was there with the people, okay? We saw them, different, uh, transformative journey within some other corporates, within our company, in other, uh, countries, okay, and even some other countries that did that transformation, and outside Sanofi as well. So, there were various case studies, how those countries, how those corporates, how those teams transform their journey. And we also can do that kind of belief, that we can do, and all accidents are preventable. So, getting into this, this was very important, and this required a lot of discussion, deliberation, and convincing sessions for that, okay? Second challenge I faced is about people don't consider earlier, there are people who are not considering many people, that road safety training is required, okay? Lot of people, they think road safety is just a common-sense thing, okay? Road safety is just a common-sense thing, so that was the belief of many persons, okay? And they were thinking, what I learned, okay? So, when we started this training, and when we were in the initial days, when we