Drive Reckless And Get Fired: Safety Mantra at Vodafone

Drive Recklessly and You Are Fired: New Safety Mantra From Vodafone

Deepak (name changed), a Kolkata-based employee of Vodafone India, has more on his plate than what his job profile demands. He has to undergo a rigorous driver’s training, which includes how to drive safely, and running checks on seat belts and helmets.

Such training is now mandatory and those who don’t undergo this, can get a bad appraisal, and even worse, lose their jobs. Over a year ago, three employees were fired by Vodafone India for driving recklessly out of office hours.

In the last four months, India’s No. 2 carrier has spent 2.3 lakh man hours training over 1 lakh employees on how to drive safely and running checks on seat belts and helmets as part of a Health, Well Being and Safety initiative. “Safety is Integrity …. Any infringement will be handled with similar clarity,” said the company’s human resources director, Ashok Ramachandran.

As part of the initiative, 1,13,000 employees have been issued ‘Safety Passports’ which catalogue trainings the person has completed, ones that remain and possibly when a refresher will be needed. “No one is allowed to start work unless he or she has undergone the needed training, checks, and therefore carries a valid Safety Passport,” said Ramachandran.

This code applies not only to employees during office work hours, but also to their personal lives. Ramachandran said it has reduced accidents and fatalities, but more importantly created a heightened sense of responsibility among the staff.

Now, even Deepak’s seven-yearold daughter runs a check on the safety rules promulgated by Vodafone every morning as she leaves for school with her father. The company also involves families as part of this awareness.

In April every year, the company assembles families of employees as part of an outreach programme. To expand its safety initiative, over the last year children of employees have across centres performed skits on road safety and risks, creating stronger messaging among younger minds. “The culture we create now will hold this generation and hopefully, the next gen as well, in good stead, as habits do percolate into families,” said Ramachandran.

Adherence to safety regulations is enforced even more with vendors and partners of Vodafone India. For example, all electricians at the Vodafone building have to undergo a special electrical and ladder mounting safety training and travel partners must train drivers. “For the few who don’t practice safety and the 7 Absolute Safety Rules, we are happy to take punitive action, including, in many cases, separate association with the company,” Ramachandran said.

Until last year, the company said enforcement of such punitive action can be tricky. In European countries, for example, state enforcement is sufficient. But in India, the company does ad hoc citizen policing within the staff. So, Vodafone assigned people each employee was supposed to watch. Even the senior-most employee was watched, said a midlevel Vodafone executive.

With the new passport initiative, however, the objective is more to create self-awareness and selfmonitoring rather than strictly find tattlers, said an executive at a regional office of Vodafone.

“Most of the field staff is not in front of us and only visit office after couple of days. A Vodafone employee does not have day-today physical interaction and monitoring because of spread, reach and the outsourced model,” reads a concept note on issuing the Safety Passports.