How Do I Draft a Zero-Tolerance Policy for the Steel Industry? Seeking Advice

Zero-Tolerance Policy in the Workplace

Please help me by providing more ideas about the zero-tolerance policy at the workplace. Our industry is in the steel sector, and I would like to establish a zero-tolerance policy as our ISO auditors are insisting on it. Could you please advise me on how to draft it?

Additionally, they are also requesting a driving policy and a drug policy. Your guidance on these matters would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance.

Regards,
Santosh

A zero-tolerance policy could be implemented for a particular employee or at a departmental level. Basically, to design this policy, you have to identify all the things which an employee can do wrong either advertently or inadvertently, or through incompletion or inefficient completion of KRA. Then, you will be required to identify a liability that will arise on the company and how you could compensate for the same from the employee. If that is not retrievable from the employee and significantly affects the business, you will put it under a zero-tolerance policy.

Example: IT Department

1. Not able to bring up the business-critical systems according to SLA - Impose a penalty of a 10% deduction in salary.

2. Data loss with no ability to retrieve it - ZTR.

3. Passwords of critical systems, servers leaked to a third party, resulting in hacking of servers or stealing of information - ZTR.

And so on, basically, this is more or less an integration of SLAs, risks, and compliances on which you need to define the penalty according to the liability on the company.

I hope this will help you out.

Regards,
Seema

Dear Santosh, I find that in your query you have not given adequate information. The response given by Seema, which is applicable to the IT/BPO industries, is fairly accurate; however, do remember the following distinctions:

Differences Between IT and Steel Industries

In IT services, there is an SLA between the service provider and the client/customer; however, in steel industries, a manufacturer caters to several buyers. Therefore, instead of a single SLA, there are pre-defined technical standards according to International, US, and Indian standards for various steel products based on their usage and application.

Thus, there are different standards for different steel products such as steel plates, railway tracks, sheets, GI sheets, beams, channels, wire rods, SAW pipes, etc.

Understanding Zero Tolerance

Zero tolerance simply means that a product is unacceptable if it is not within the specifications, and the means to achieve it is Six Sigma, WCM, etc. ISO auditors are insisting on it for all the right reasons, and you'll have to enumerate a quality policy in this respect and document SOPs to achieve it.

As I have always reiterated in the past, these activities are beyond the purview of HR persons, and their role should be restricted to that of facilitators. This activity should be undertaken by technical persons and qualified engineers and metallurgists, responsible for production and quality.

Hope the above information helps you.

Warm regards.