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When telecom giants Celcom and Digi merged in 2022, their leadership recognised that this was more than just aligning policies—it was about creating a shared safety culture that would permeate every level of the business. We uncover the journey in this interview with Sue Ann Lim, Head of OSH, Supply Chain Management & Wellbeing, CelcomDigi.
When Celcom and Digi merged to form CelcomDigi back in 2022, it was not just a union of two telecom giants in Malaysia—it was a merging of values, particularly when it came to the safety and wellbeing of their people.
Both companies brought with them mature and established occupational safety and health (OSH) practices, but the task ahead lay in how to blend these strengths into a unified approach that would not only uphold, but elevate safety standards across the new organisation.
As the two companies came together, their leadership recognised that this was more than just aligning policies—it was about creating a shared safety culture that would permeate every level of the business. This meant taking the best of what each company had to offer and forging a new path forward. What exactly did this journey entail, and how has it evolved to what the company presents today?
Priya Sunil delves deep into this in this exclusive with Sue Ann Lim, Head of OSH, Supply Chain Management & Wellbeing, CelcomDigi (pictured above).
Read the full Q&A below:
Q How did Celcom and Digi's mature OSH policies influence the unified approach post-merger, and what were the key steps taken to harmonise safety standards across the new organisation?
The people who work with us and for us are the heart of CelcomDigi’s success. As one of the largest corporates in Malaysia, we have over 3,600 dedicated industry experts — we fondly call CDzens, and an extensive supply chain with hundreds of business partners. We are committed to a safe and healthy work environment for all our employees, partners, and vendors ensuring everyone returns home to their families safely at day’s end.
We believe that our value chain presents an exceptional opportunity to enhance business performance, reduce environmental impact, and promote social equality by mitigating human rights, and health and safety risks.
By cultivating a proactive safety culture that goes beyond compliance, we aim to be an industry leader in safety and build trust with our stakeholders, aligning with our ‘Responsible and Caring’ value.
Coming together with strong and well-established safety practices, CelcomDigi management took several key steps to harmonise our safety standards:
- Merging our expertise, elevating our safety standards: We conducted a thorough analysis on best practices from both companies and leading international standards to capture the most effective strategies for our specific needs and create a world-class safety culture.
- Built a robust safety infrastructure and internal expertise to proactively manage risk: Our immediate priority post-merger was establishing dedicated Regional Safety Committees with employee and management representatives, ensuring a collaborative approach to safety. Additionally, Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) were stationed at all locations for swift and coordinated response in case of emergencies. Medical Response Teams (MRTs) and Mental Health First Aiders were also put in place. All these groups of CDzens are responsible to inculcate our OSH culture within the organisation.
- Continuous improvement to close the gap: We actively seek feedback and conduct on-site assessments to identify gaps between our safety policies and everyday practices. Based on these findings, we implement targeted improvements to ensure consistent and effective safety protocols across the organisation.
Q What were the most significant challenges you faced in unifying the OSH practices of both companies, and how did you address them?
As a responsible business, our goal is to achieve zero incident and drive a proactive safety maturity level, benchmarking on the international Hudson Safety Culture Maturity model. To unify and streamline our OSH practices, we had to address some of these challenges:
- Integrating safety culture and addressing knowledge gap: We conducted a comprehensive review of both companies' safety practices to identify best practices and develop a unified safety culture through training, workshops, and consistent communication. Additionally, we implemented targeted awareness programmes and knowledge transfer initiatives to bridge safety knowledge gaps and ensure CDzens aligned with the required safety standards.
- Data and system integration: Integrating safety data and management systems was complex and time consuming. We harmonised the safety management systems and applications of both companies, selecting the more compatible and effective solution. We conducted thorough data migration and validation processes to ensure continuity and accuracy of safety information.
- Risk management and mitigation: As a newly merged company, it is crucial to identify and manage new risks. We conducted a comprehensive risk assessment and developed a robust risk management framework incorporating both top-down and bottom-up perspective to address evolving challenges and maintain high safety standards throughout the transition.
Q How do you ensure that OSH is a priority across the leadership team, and decision-making processes within CelcomDigi?
Our management and senior leaders have been very supportive and play a critical role in integrating OSH within our organisation. Their focus on safety as a core value sets the standard for the whole company. They demonstrate their commitment in integrating OSH in their decision-making by:
- Leading by example: Our leadership team walks the talk when it comes to safety protocols and visibly advocate for safety at all times. In fact, they have made personal efforts to do unannounced inspections of our workplace safety conditions of our office premises.
- Training and awareness: All our leaders are amongst the first to complete their HIRARC training to foster a deep understanding of OSH principles, empowering them to champion safety initiatives with their respective teams.
- Data-driven decision-making: Weekly leadership forums go beyond progress report. We present safety data with insights, highlighting identified gaps and potential risks. This data-driven approach allows leadership to make informed decisions and proactively address safety concerns. Since implementing this approach, we have seen a 50% reduction in workplace incidents. Our hazard findings for our workspace have also decreased from 1.61 per site last year to 0.73 per site this year.
- Safety-first in every decision: OSH considerations are ingrained in our decision-making process. We ensure potential safety implications are assessed before any major choices are made. This continuous improvement approach ensures CelcomDigi remains at the forefront of workplace safety.
Q At the same time, how are you ensuring its importance, and the OSH processes you have in place, are well communicated to employees on the ground? Are these helping drive employee engagement?
We use a multi-pronged approach to ensure the importance of OSH processes are well-communicated and drive employee engagement:
- Regular, open communication through internal channels: We utilise a mix of digital and physical channels to reach CDzens, such as internal email and Workplace by Meta, alongside noticeboards and printed materials. Our safety materials and briefings are translated into Bahasa Malaysia and English to cater to our diverse workforce. Beyond that, our leaders also address OSH-related matters during townhalls, demonstrating commitment to OSH and engaging directly with employees.
- Empowerment through knowledge and tools: We actively train and engage our employees in safety initiatives, ensuring their voices are heard and their concerns addressed. We also empower CDzens to champion a safety-first mindset, enabling them to take proactive measures in ensuring their own safety and that of their colleagues, such as alerting their managers or using our internal hotline to report potential hazards.
- Measuring effectiveness: Surveys are conducted to gauge CDzens’ understanding of OSH processes, comfort level in reporting safety concerns, and overall perception of the safety culture. This feedback helps identify areas for improvement and tailor communication and engagement strategies. Incident reporting is also analysed to identify root causes of safety incidents, allowing for targeted interventions to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
Q What initiatives have been implemented to address both physical and psychological health and safety, and how do these initiatives contribute to a holistic approach to employee wellbeing?
CelcomDigi prioritises a comprehensive approach to employee wellbeing and safety, aiming to empower self-advocacy by 2026.CelcomDigi prioritises a comprehensive approach to employee wellbeing and safety, aiming to empower self-advocacy by 2026.
Our OSH strategy, ‘Safety Plus’, emphasises proactive care and encompasses both physical and psychological health and safety, guided by industry-leading standards like the ‘Healthy Organisation Maturity Model’ and the ‘Hudson Safety Maturity Model’.
Safety measures
We have a robust safety programme which focuses on six key areas:
- Strong leadership commitment ensures that safety is a core value at CelcomDigi. Leaders actively participate in safety initiatives, setting a positive example for the rest of the workforce.
- Cross-functional collaboration is encouraged to identify and address safety risks effectively. Teams work together to develop and implement safety programmes and control measures.
- A well-established reporting system allows employees to easily report safety incidents and near misses. This enables thorough investigation and corrective action to prevent future occurrences.
- Standardised work management systems are in place, adhering to ISO 45001 standards. These systems integrate safety protocols into everyday operations, ensuring consistent safety practices across the organisation.
- A competency framework ensures employees receive training based on their roles. This enhances their safety skills and knowledge, allowing them to work safely and effectively.
- Regular audits and inspections are conducted to proactively identify potential hazards. This ensures that risk mitigation strategies are effective and continuously improved.
Wellbeing programmes
Employee wellbeing goes beyond physical safety. As such, we have implemented various initiatives to promote preventive healthcare and mental health awareness.
- All CDzens are provided with comprehensive medical coverage, including mental wellness coverage and annual health screening.
- Partnerships with healthcare providers, like DoctorOnCall, to provide on-site health screenings and health talks to educate employees about their physical health and encourage them to take a proactive approach to managing it.
- Mental health literacy is addressed through regular campaigns and activities, like our Mental Wellness Day. This helps to reduce stigma surrounding mental health and encourages employees to seek help if needed.
- An innovative approach to employee wellbeing is the CD'Wellbeing app, developed internally. This in-house app provides a one-stop platform for CDzens to access various resources, including gym facility booking, fitness class registration, and mental health assessments. The app also connects employees with the CD Cares Squad, who are a team of Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs).
- Collaboration with the Malaysia Well-being@Work allows us to leverage data and collaborate with other companies for more effective implementation of employee wellbeing programmes.
Mental health initiatives
Recognising the importance of mental health in overall employee wellbeing, we have implemented several initiatives specifically focused on mental health:
- Upskilling employees as MHFAs is a key initiative. We aim to have at least one MHFA per team, creating a group of trained CDzens who can provide first level mental health support to colleagues who need it.
- Aligning policies with ISO 45003 guidelines, endorsed by NIOSH Malaysia, demonstrates CelcomDigi's commitment to managing psychosocial risks and creating a safe work environment.
Q Looking at the bigger picture, how are CelcomDigi’s efforts towards OSH within your workforce, contributing to the wider OSH goals of the telco industry? Importantly, how are these efforts aligning with Malaysia’s amendments to the OSH Act?
In line with our aspiration of being an industry leader in safety, here is how we are:
Contributing to the wider OSH goals:
- Setting high-standards: All our vendors and partners in our supply value chain are expected to uphold the highest safety standards and are mandated to sign with our Agreement of Responsible Business Conduct, a requirement which stipulates their agreement to comply with our guidelines in the areas of Health, Safety, and Security (HSS), ethical conduct, human rights, and environmental management. We also conduct a due diligence check prior to any work engagement, run regular on-site live monitoring via the CelcomDigi Permit-to-Work app, and compliance assessments to ensure that our suppliers adhere with our responsible business standards.
- Capacity building: We do regular engagement, training and working hand-in-hand with our vendors and suppliers’ management team and safety officers to enhance best practices and way of work. In 2023, more than 2,400 of our vendors and suppliers have clocked in over 23,400 training hours. This not only safeguards our business, but we are also helping our partners elevate their OSH practices too, which builds their credibility and trustworthiness which makes them more likely to be considered for partnership by other organisations.
- Knowledge sharing: We meet on a quarterly basis with our telco counterparts to share our experiences, learnings, and even challenges. This collective effort not only enhances the overall understanding of safety protocols but also sets a higher standard for performance, leading to enhanced reputation, trust, and regulatory compliance.
Alignment with Malaysia’s amended OSH Act:
- Compliance and Beyond: We not only comply with the regulations in the amended OSH Act, we strive to exceed them. Our commitment to Zero-Incident goal drives us to ensure our practices remain up to standard, strictly adhering to regulatory guidance where available and holding ourselves to a higher standard than required. Where such guidance is absent, we self-regulate to maintain a robust safety culture.
- Employee empowerment: The amended Act emphasises greater employee participation in safety initiatives. We have established platforms for employees to voice safety concern and contribute to improving safety standards and policies.
- Promoting collaboration: Partners across the value chain and within the industry play a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of OSH, and we collaborate closely with them to drive collective improvements in safety standards.
Q In the next 3-5 years, what new initiatives can employees look forward to, as you evolve your approach to OSH to keep up with industry and national demands?
Here is what CDzens can look forward to in the next 3-5 years:
A more inclusive and engaging wellbeing culture
- Enhanced inclusivity: We acknowledge the need for more creative engagement, particularly for regional employees. We are exploring innovative solutions to bridge the gap and ensure everyone feels included in wellness initiatives, regardless of location.
- Incorporating metaverse in CD'Wellbeing app: We are pioneering the use of the metaverse in CD'Wellbeing, allowing nationwide participation in activities like meditation, fitness sessions, and healthy living workshops led by professionals.
- Wellness app for customers: We see potential in further enhancing our CD’Wellbeing app and offer it to our consumer and corporate clients.
Leveraging technology for improved safety
- Drone technology: Our collaboration with DHL has given us the opportunity to introduce drones for routine tasks like equipment checks and inventory management at warehouses and tower sites. This reduces risks associated with working at a height and eye strain.
- Warehouse automation: Investments in warehouse automation will enhance personnel safety, improve site security, facilitate hazard identification, and minimise human error during inspections.
Expanding wellbeing beyond the four walls of our organisation
- Family wellbeing advocacy: We aim to empower employees to become wellbeing advocates within their families and communities. By equipping them with knowledge and tools, we believe they will inspire those around them to prioritise balanced wellbeing.
- Supply chain wellness: We plan to extend our wellbeing strategy to business partners, fostering a positive influence on wellness practices throughout our supply chain.
Q How would you describe your OSH team in three words?
If the OSH team were superheroes, their code names would be:
- Captain Caution: Clad in a hi-vis vest and safety boots, always on high alert, ready to swoop in at the first sign of danger to ensure everyone stays safe.
- Professor Prevention: The ever-smiling safety sage, armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of safety measures and practices, always ready with a tip or advice to keep us all secure.
- Wonder Woman (or Man!) Wellbeing: The ultimate motivator for workplace health and safety, inspiring everyone to prioritise their wellbeing at all times.
Together, they form an unbeatable team, ensuring our workplace is not just safe but also a great place to be!
Q Outside of work, how do you prioritize your own health and wellbeing, and do you have any hobbies or activities you’re passionate about?
My favourite kind of activities are those that get my heart pumping and my face as red as the sun! Whether it's hiking, playing badminton, or pickleball, staying active is a must for me. But I'm also a curious soul, always eager to try new things. One minute I’m diving into an MBA, the next I’m getting certified in data analytics. Other hobbies I enjoy include baking, playing the guitar, and even constructing terrariums.
My hobbies change with the seasons, keeping life exciting. For me, the key to relieving stress is continuous learning and exploring new experiences. It keeps my mind sharp, my body active, and it puts a smile on my face.My hobbies change with the seasons, keeping life exciting. For me, the key to relieving stress is continuous learning and exploring new experiences. It keeps my mind sharp, my body active, and it puts a smile on my face.
Photos: Provided
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