“Adopting a zero-harm strategy has led to a change of mindset at Unilin”

In short:

• An agricultural engineer by training, Geoffroy Colyn (Unilin Flooring in Vielsalm, Belgium) switched careers 23 years ago to become a Health and Safety Officer.
• As a health and safety officer, he takes care of his colleagues’ well-being. His is a multifaceted role, which sees him running well-being surveys, making site visits to check on working methods and suggest safety measures, training teams in best practice (e.g. positively looking out for each other and discussing health and safety issues together), etc.

The positive impact of the zero-harm strategy

Sometimes, it is his shop floor colleagues that proactively get in touch with him with a query or a problem. Other times, it is Colyn himself that spots something when on a site visit. “It’s natural that when you’re in the thick of it at work, you don’t always take that step back to see that certain things could be done differently,” he explains.

He continues: “A preventative approach involves commitment across the board. I’ve seen a real change in mindsets since the implementation of Unilin’s zero-harm strategy a few years ago. It is definitely bearing fruit. At the Vielsalm site for instance, over the last 4-5 years, accident rates have come down.” In summary, the zero-harm health and safety strategy is designed to prevent accidents at work, by prioritising health and safety and ensuring employee awareness and empowerment in this arena.

Sowing seeds for success every day

When you’re working in health and safety, you need to see the big picture. Explains Colyn: “In this job, you talk to people at every level of the organisation. Sometimes a different approach is needed for different people. And you also need to know how to negotiate, because people don’t always see eye to eye. Thankfully, Unilin regularly runs training courses to promote these kinds of skills.”

Colyn feels that his job is a very worthwhile one: “I see myself as an agent for change: I push the right buttons to make things happen”. Of course, things can and do go wrong. When an accident does happen, it’s hard to accept. However, these are the times when you need to take a look at the bigger picture and keep moving forward.”

Of course, conversely, there is nothing more satisfying than finding a solution to a problem and seeing it actually work. However, he is keen to emphasise that “it’s not just the major changes that count. The little daily wins are just as pleasing. The other day, for example, one of the workers told me that he had educated his son about the importance of wearing gloves when working. These cases make me feel like I’m sowing little seeds, every single day. Which finally circles back to my old job as an agricultural engineer!”, he smiles.

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