LPA Shows the way

SAFETY AND LOSS PREVENTION
Way back in the 1970s, there was a growing concern in the general insurance industry about the magnitude of fires, road mishaps, industrial accidents, damage to cargo-resulting in loss of life and property, most of which was avoidable. It was this concern for preventing such losses and containing their consequences that prompted the general insurance industry to promote the Loss Prevention Association of India Limited or LPA, as it popularly came to be known.
Loss Prevention Association of India was set up in January 1978 as a company limited by guarantee, engaged in promotion of safety and loss control through education, training and consultancy. When it started, LPA had a handful of specialists operating from its head office at Mumbai. Today, it has emerged as a premier safety organisation with multi-faceted expertise, having offices at Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. Objectives of LPA are :

To publicise causes and magnitude of losses and create an awareness of the need for loss prevention.
To identify causes and provide know- how/expertise on their removal/neutralisation.
To inculcate safety and loss prevention consciousness.

Education, training and consultancy have been the cornerstones of LPA's safety promotion strategy for the industrial sector.
LPA educates personnel in industry to recognise hazards and appreciate the need for safe operations. Having done this, it helps in devising a plan of action for identifying the different types of hazards, evaluating them and finally suggesting a comprehensive strategy for safety and loss prevention. This is where training and consultancy come in. Over the past twenty years, LPA has effectively used this approach to the benefit of several industries. The three major loss control areas where LPA has focussed its attention in this respect have been fire safety, material handling and road safety.
The range of membership services offered to industries who are members of LPA has steadily increased in the past 20 years. In the initial phases, public education campaigns using the mass media were used to create the necessary awareness among managements on the vital need for safety and loss prevention in industry. Once industry started appreciating the necessity for loss control, LPA started offering training programmes on different aspects of safety. These were in the form of modules tailor-made for specific industries, as also public training programmes which were of general interest. Thus, safety training in-puts were provided for all categories of personnel in the industrial sector.
The areas where training was provided were diverse, such as fire loss control for different types of industry, fire fighting and rescue operations for workers, materials handling and storage for docks, ports, warehouses, etc., materials movement, road safety and programmes for top management on risk control, total loss control, product liability, etc.
Besides industry, the technical expertise of LPA was being sought by governments, standards making bodies and research institutions in areas like framing legislation, developing prevention strategies, formulating standards and evaluating risks. Likewise, the insurance industry started referring major industrial fires to LPA for scientific investigation and recommendations for preventing recurrence in the future.
LPA supports safety activities of industries on an ongoing basis through its technical publications, booklets, data sheets, posters, leaflets, stickers, etc. For instance, LPA has released over 50 publications in different languages covering numerous aspects of safety in industry, trade and commerce, LPA's journals, Loss Prevention News, Road Safety Digests our today valued by safety professionals for its articles, data sheets, case studies, and a host of other features. LPA has also produce 20 films covering various subjects such as fire safety, road safety, industrial safety and domestic safety. These cassettes are available in English as well as Hindi.
LPA's library-cum-information centre has the finest collection of books and journals on safety and loss control in the country.
LPA's services are readily made available to its Associate Members.
LPA And Community
Before LPA was formed, very little was being done to promote safety among the public in the country. LPA thus took the lead in reaching out to the community on issues relating to fire safety at home, prevention of road accidents and the like. LPA used a multi-pronged strategy to publicise causes and the magnitude of losses so that people could appreciate the need for preventive measures and inculcate safety consciousness.
LPA pioneered, for the first time in the country, public service press campaigns on safety at the national level in 1978-79. These campaigns later became a regular feature and covered various aspects of safety such as

Pedestrian Safety	-	Cautioning pedestrians to move safety on the road
Defensive Driving	-	A concept of safe driving which minimises road accidents
Fireworks Safety	-	Highlighting the safe way of using fire-works du-ring Diwali
Two Wheeler Safety	-	Advising youngsters to ride 2 wheeler very carefully

These campaigns had a visible impact on the minds of the target audience as was proved by subsequent research studies. The campaigns also acted as a catalyst for other like minded organisations and corporate bodies to initiate safety programmes in their own areas of operation.
LPA's public service announcements (PSAs) in the form of TV spots highlight various aspects of safety. LPA is also being regularly invited by television and radio to deliver talks and participate in discussions.
Publications
A number of publications on home safety and road safety have been developed by LPA in the past 20 years. They cover diverse subjects such as safe use of LPG, kitchen safety, pedestrian safety, fire safety in high-rise buildings, etc. Lakhs of copies of these publications in different languages have been distributed through community programmes, exhibitions, contests, etc.
LPA has now become a clearing house of safety information and a reference point for the media. Today most of the reputed newspapers/magazines come to LPA for information on safety articles, features, comments on safety related issues. For instance, LPA staff has contributed to reputed publications in India and abroad such as The Times of India, Indian Express, Economic Times, Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Midday, Business World, Business India, Reader's Digest, Fire International, U.K., Hazardous Cargo Bulletin, U.K. Schaden Speigel, West Germany, etc. In fact LPA has motivated newspapers and magazines to start safety features in their columns on a regular basis.
Fire Services Week
Between 7 and 14 April, every year, the fire services in the country celebrate the Fire Services Week. LPA, for the past 2 decades, has been actively supporting the fire brigades all over the country by providing them with educational material on safety for distribution and display. These include posters, stickers, leaflets, slide/film shows, etc. Nearly a million copies of various publicity material have been distributed over the years.
Lpa And Children
Safety practitioners the world over have realised that safety education for children is indeed a safe and sound investment. LPA also believes in this philosophy and has been involved, though in a limited way, with children's education.
LPA has developed flip charts on fire and road safety for children which are made available to schools. Likewise, films and audio-visuals have been produced by LPA for children which are regularly screened for their benefit. These are supplemented by children's publications on safety which include comics, leaflets, stickers and quizzes. Thousands of children have benefited from these educational materials.
LPA has been regularly holding other motivational programmes for children such as painting contests on safety, quiz contests, essay competitions, etc. Such programmes are held in collaboration with voluntary organisations in different parts of the country. These are supplemented by exhibitions, displays and audio-visual shows which are held at regular intervals.
Recognition
At the 13th Asian Advertising Congress held in New Delhi, LPA's Road Safety Campaign was awarded the Max Lewis Memorial Challenge Trophy, 1982. This campaign was adjudged the Best Public Service Campaign in Asia. In 1984, LPA's film on fire safety for children `Fire games' won the Government of India's national Award for the Best Film in the category of animation films.
In 1997, when the First Asia Pacific Occupational Safety Poster and Video Festival was held, LPA won four awards during this festival. LPA's Poster "Blocked fire exit can cost many lives" won the Silver Medal and the Poster titled "See, falls can be fatal" won the Bronze Medal. LPA's video film "First aid for burns" and "Safe highway driving" won Certificates of Merit.
In the years to come, LPA would like to concentrate on Risk Management and Risk Inspection for industrial organisations for their benefit and road safety programmes for the benefit of general public as 70,000 lives are lost in road accidents in India every year.
It has been a two decades of multi-faceted activities for LPA-of trying to reach out to diverse segments with a view to creating safety awareness. But this is just the beginning. A lot more needs to be done in a country like India where the accident problem, notwithstanding all efforts, will continue to remain a serious issue. Recently LPA have started Risk Management Services and Risk Inspection Services. Risk Management Services are mainly provided to industrial organisations and Risk Inspection Services are tailor made keeping in view the requirements of the general insurance industry. Thus, as LPA enters new millennium it will have to redouble its efforts to meet the growing challenges in the years ahead not only for the insurance companies but also for industrial organisations and general public.