Background
A leading Global Tyre Manufacturer with operations across the world faced critical safety and culture challenges at its India production site. The facility, spread across multiple units, employed over 5,000 workers and manufactured a diverse product portfolio, including:
- Passenger vehicle tyres
- Transport vehicle tyres
- Off-the-road tyres for tractors and special machinery
- Aircraft tyres
- Tubes
The production processes were highly specialized and complex, involving chemical-intensive operations such as compounding, Banbury mixing, milling, extruding, calendaring, curing, and vulcanizing. Key chemicals handled included Naphtha, Sulphur, Carbon Black, Isopropyl Alcohol, accelerators, curing agents, and fillers, all of which brought significant occupational health and process safety risks.
While the plant was globally reputed for quality, it needed a culture transformation to ensure safety became as deeply ingrained as production efficiency and quality standards.
Challenges
When SWASYA Solutions began engaging with the tyre major, several challenges stood out:
- Reactive Safety Approach – Safety was largely seen as a support function rather than an integral part of production.
- High-Risk Chemical Processes – The presence of flammable and hazardous chemicals posed constant threats.
- Workforce Scale – With over 5,000 employees, ensuring consistent safety awareness and practices across shifts and departments was difficult.
- Inconsistent Practices – Standard operating procedures were followed inconsistently, and risk perception varied across teams.
The need was clear: transform safety from a compliance activity to a deeply rooted culture that enabled “Safe Production.”
SWASYA’s Approach
SWASYA Solutions designed and executed a 3-year Safety Culture Transformation program (2016–2019). The program was built around the principle that true safety excellence comes from mindset change, leadership ownership, and system-wide integration.
Key interventions included:
- Leadership Engagement
- Capability Building
- Process Safety Integration
- Behavioral Intervention Program
- Measurement & Tracking
Outcomes and Impact
The transformation delivered tangible results across the plant:
- “Safe Production” Achieved – For the first time, production volume and safety performance improved simultaneously, proving that safety and productivity can go hand in hand.
- Reduction in LTIFR – Within just two years of initiating the project, the LTIFR was reduced by over 95% — reaching a level better than global benchmarks. This improvement was delivered alongside a production increase of nearly 20% over the same period. What is notable is that the LTIFR remained at this low level consistently in the years following our exit.
- Cultural Shift – Safety moved from being a compliance-driven exercise to a shared responsibility across all levels of the organization.
- Empowered Workforce – Employees at the shop floor began proactively identifying risks and suggesting improvements.
- Leadership as Role Models – Plant leaders demonstrated consistent safety ownership, influencing frontline practices positively.
Key Learnings
- Leadership drives change – Senior management’s visible commitment is critical to transforming workplace safety.
- Safety and productivity coexist – With the right systems, plants can scale output without compromising workforce wellbeing and in fact safety creates business value