Churrascos, Christenings and a Wedding: Improving Safety in Latin America

"Business in Latin America isn’t for beginners; if it were, everyone would be doing it.” Christian Ingle

Three years ago Quality Safety Edge (QSE) established a permanent presence in Latin America, opening an office in Brazil, as well as establishing local representation in Colombia. They wanted to ensure that their global strategy attended to the needs of the local population. In Latin America, QSE discovered very quickly that doing business, meant being visible, being local, and most importantly, being accountable.

married coupleBrazil is the world’s fifth largest country and seventh largest economy, not to mention Sao Paulo as one of the world’s largest cities. For many, this would be a daunting challenge, but the prospect of doing business somewhere that has so many challenges was an opportunity that QSE welcomed.

Like much of Latin America, Brazilian companies are now shifting their focus to the behavioral aspect of business. Safety is now a major priority for many companies who see that reduction in accidents has a direct effect upon their bottom line. Also, the Brazilian government is taking an increasingly hard line on companies that do not provide sufficiently safe workplaces or practices for their employees. The government is linking company taxes, mandatory insurance rates, and fines to injury data at Brazilian companies. As a result, these companies are beginning to recognize a return on investment for creating a safe environment.

Being available and personalizing QSE’s process to cultural differences and Brazilian management practices has facilitated our rapid business development here. Our ability to speak and write in Portuguese is refreshing to a region that historically had to force- fit the packaged services of other North American consulting companies into their culture.

Quality Safety Edge is committed to client success, and our global experience causes us to be sensitive to local social and business customs. If a client needs for QSE to be on location in a few days, having an office in Sao Paulo allows me to be on site quickly. Face-to-face contact is important in Brazil; it helps develop the trust that is necessary to create a productive business relationship.

One-on-one dialog creates the opportunity for a close collaboration process which ensures we are able to tailor our solutions to a client’s specific needs. Making and maintaining relationships in Latin America is extremely important. QSE consultants are skilled in building close client relationships. Our consultants have been invited on many occasions to participate in the famous Brazilian Barbeque—churrascos, and even christenings and a wedding!