The Kuwait International HSE Conference & Exhibition held on 16th – 17th February 2015 allowed a wide range of industry professionals to come together to discuss communication and innovation around health, safety and the environment. Delegate companies attending included a broad range of Myriad Global Media’s clients such as PDO, Qatar Petroleum, BP, Chevron, Petrofac, ADNOC and many more.
Myriad Global Media Middle East’s base in the region provides high quality strategy, thinking and media communications for HSE and other key corporate communication needs. Jennifer Palmer, Myriad Global Media’s Middle East Managing Director, was on the podium at the event, where she discussed best practice in HSE communications, and how to effect behavioural change.
Some of the Industry’s key challenges were discussed around HSE, particularly around how a culture of ownership could become an industry norm.
There was a firm commitment shown to HSE from the highest levels and a clear message that “cutting costs does not mean cutting corners”. One CEO remarked that if people are our greatest asset, then why do we spend far more of our resources on servicing and maintaining equipment and machinery?
Several speakers reinforced the message that communications must be simplified and addressed to the frontline workers in a language and method which they can understand in order to stimulate employee engagement.
Jennifer’s presentation focused on how effective communications drives engagement by prioritizing the ownership of safety issues as a key objective; always working towards the goal of a truly embedded safety culture. The key drivers are relevant, engaging and interesting communications that ‘speaks’ to the audience.
Some thought-provoking work came out of the Health track, where it was felt that the H in HSE is often seen as a small letter but that a productive and healthy workforce is truly a significant asset. It was suggested that the same approach to health management should be applied as in safety – conducting a risk assessment, identifying hazards and implementing controls to mitigate them.
Overall it was a great event that was worth attending and Jennifer came away with some new ideas to share with our clients.
If you want to find out more about our ground-breaking work around HSE in the region then contact Jennifer:
Telephone: +971 2 4479288