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Ross Muir, Jersey Electricity’s head of health, safety and environment, explains to Emily Moore how his role has expanded to meet the demands of changing times
IN 1965, the site of a builder stripped to the waist as he worked on the construction of the power station’s chimney at La Collette probably wouldn’t even have attracted a second glance.
Now, though, such a practice seems unthinkable, as the importance of health and safety has come to the fore, and the outlook and responsibilities of individuals and employers are very different.
As Ross Muir, Jersey Electricity’s head of health, safety and environment, explains, these changing attitudes and practices are indicative of a constantly evolving industry which has the safety of staff and members of the public at its core.
‘When we look at that 1965 picture, it seems amazing, but that just underlines the nature of the industry,’ he reflected. ‘Not only do working practices change all the time but new technology and equipment play a massive part in the industry’s evolution. As the team constantly looks for the best available solutions, so a new set of hazards are presented, which we have to find ways of eliminating or controlling.’
Key to achieving this, says Ross, is time, effort and engagement, not just on the part of the health, safety and environment team but across the organisation, as JE strives to deliver its vision for a carbon-neutral future.
‘While delivering a sustainable future underpins the firm’s strategic objectives, safety is the first of JE’s core values and this sits at the heart of everything we do, from maintaining a safe and efficient energy supply for Islanders to delivering a wellbeing-focused workplace environment for all of our teams,’ he explained.
While hazards are present in any setting, it is the employees in the firm’s energy division who face the greatest risks, as evidenced by the Danger of Death signs which eagle-eyed passers-by will have spotted on the front of the many substations and power boxes around the Island.
‘Those signs are a stark reminder of the risk associated with electricity, and it is vital that we have the right training programmes and working practices in place to ensure that the teams working on the network carry out their jobs in a way which is safe both for themselves and for members of the public,’ said Ross.
‘When you think about JE, our teams are involved in pretty much every high-risk activity that you can imagine, from working on live electrical supplies up to 90,000 volts, to working at height and working in confined spaces, so the importance of health and safety cannot be underestimated.’
Despite the emphasis on this area, Ross is keen to stress that his team does not come across as ‘the police’ but that they work collaboratively with employees across the organisation to foster that engagement.
‘This is another significant way in which the health and safety industry has changed over the past ten or 20 years,’ he said. ‘In the past, health and safety professionals were seen as a police force. They were regarded as people who walked around wearing a high-vis vest and a hard hat, pointing at things and reprimanding people. The rest of the workforce feared them.
‘Thankfully, that approach has now changed and our role is very much to work with the teams and support them instead of working against them. To support this, we have changed the job titles from officers or advisers to business partners, and that is not just a question of semantics. It really represents the role function. We are business partners, here to ensure the operational needs of the teams are met in a safe and responsible manner.’
And it is not just the final word of the job title which has changed in recent years.
‘When I started in this industry, I was a safety officer, then I became a health and safety officer,’ he said. ‘The next change was to health, safety and environment, and then quality and wellbeing were added to the role. Now, there are all of those elements, plus sustainability, which really shows how much the scope of “health and safety” has grown.
‘Not only do these changes reflect evolution within the industry but they also demonstrate the changing level of expectations from the public. Yes, we have our legal requirements to fulfil but there is also a moral obligation to the public, our stakeholders and our employees to do everything we can to ensure not just their safety but also their wellbeing. We have a responsibility as employers to support our staff, so that when they leave work at the end of the day, they feel just as good – if not better – as they did when they arrived in the morning.’
In an effort to achieve this, not only does Ross operate an ‘open-door’ policy, in which any JE team member is encouraged to talk to him about any concerns or observations, but the firm’s commitment to creating a ‘positive safety culture’ has seen staff take part in a number of initiatives.
‘Most recently, we took part in a cycling challenge linked to World Health and Safety Day,’ he said. ‘This is a day run by the International Labour Organisation, which aims to increase health, safety and welfare standards across the world.
‘Last year, we marked the day by focusing on safety. This year, we placed the emphasis on health and, in particular, mental health, with team members and the public raising almost £1,000 for Mind Jersey, which was generously matched by JE, by cycling the equivalent distance of a journey from Jersey to Finland, with Finland being chosen as the “destination” because surveys have revealed it to be the happiest country in the world.’
Having moved to the Island just over a year ago to take up his role with JE, Ross’s first introduction to the world of health and safety came when he left the military after seven years as an infantry soldier to work in the oil and gas industry.
‘I was working offshore when I was asked to carry out the risk assessments,’ he said with a smile. ‘One of the first things I identified was that, as we were testing containers in confined spaces, we were at instant risk of asphyxiation if the bottle leaked while we working on it.
‘I suggested moving the bottles outside while such work was conducted and, when that idea was approved, I felt a sense of having achieved something and made a tangible difference.’
As Ross became more involved with health and safety, so his love of the area grew, prompting him to complete a degree in health and safety management while carrying out a range of consultancy work.
‘That was a challenging time, as my period of juggling work and study coincided with the Covid pandemic, so I was advising businesses in all areas from construction to hospitality on hazards that had never arisen before and changed almost daily,’ he said.
Challenging though it may have been, it also reinforced Ross’s love of the industry and commitment to identifying the sharing of best practice, something which he is continuing through JE’s membership of the Energy Network Association.
‘This provides a really valuable opportunity to engage with stakeholders, share successes and best practice and also – and importantly – highlight any failures and resultant learnings,’ he said.
And the ENA is not the only body with which Ross is involved, as he has recently been appointed to the Jersey Safety Council.
‘This gives me another brilliant forum through which to engage with my peers and HSE professionals across the Island,’ he said. ‘Traditionally, the council has done a lot of work with the construction sector and I am now really excited to have the opportunity to look at the construction-based behavioural safety training programme, which was developed about 18 months ago, and see how that can be extended and applied to a multitude of industries, including utilities.’
Extending and building on the work of both JE and Islandwide initiatives is a core part of Ross’s focus as he reflects on his first year in the role and on his future aspirations.
‘It is clear that there have been absolute titans working in health and safety and that Jersey, in common with many places around the world, has a fantastic base from which to grow this area,’ he said. ‘However, as the industry continues to evolve, a huge amount more time, effort and engagement will be required to ensure that we have the best practices in places at all times.
‘Critically, I think that the sustainability element of the role will be one of the fastest-growing areas. Climate change is one of the biggest risks we face, and working with key stakeholders to achieve carbon neutrality and, ultimately, net zero, will be one of the greatest challenges.
‘And, of course, we cannot forget that JE is in one of the highest-risk industries there is. With so much going on, health and safety has to remain a core value at all times and my team will continue to engage across all areas of the business to ensure that we build on the work of the past year and identify further areas for improvement.’
