No. 2 ESTABLISHING A SAFETY CULTURE

Some things to know before you give the talk:

There is no recipe for insuring the success of an accident prevention program. But one thing is for sure, it will not succeed unless management demonstrates a true posture of caring about employees. If employees are viewed as a group of individuals, each with their own agenda and set of problems, then there will be no success. Managers have to realize that every individual wants to be afforded security in their job and a safe place to work. These are basic human needs, like the needs for food, sex, attention and acceptance.

Any fool can say their company has a safety plan and most fools do. The difference is determined in the safety culture of the workplace. Before talking about a safety culture, ask your self these questions and answer them truthfully:

· When was the last time you complimented a co-worker or employee on their safe performance

of a job accomplished?

· When was the last time you stopped an employee from doing something because the task was

being performed in an unsafe manner.

· What specific actions did you undertake after the last employee accident to insure there would

not be a repeat of the same type of injury?

There are two types of managers: Type one, tells an employee to clean up a spilled liquid. Type two, tells an employee to clean up a spilled liquid and reminds the employee to place out a “wet floor sign” as a reminder, even though the manager knows this is a standard safety practice. Ask yourself, are you a “type one” or “type two” manager?

To establish a successful safety culture, all employees and managers have to practice the concept of integrated safety, that is, making safety a part of the every day work activity. Workers have got to be encouraged to look for safety hazards on a daily basis and put into place safe work practices where hazards exist.

Look for the signs of a proactive safety culture in the workplace:

· Few, if any, accidents

· Individuals who take the initiative to correct hazards and warn others

· The posting of Safety Warning signs in the workplace

· An open dialogue about unsafe working conditions

Be sure to choose a meeting place that is adequate and affords no interruptions.

Keep your meeting to no less than five minutes and no longer than twenty minutes.

Employees are more receptive to talks that are informal, rather than “canned” or read. Read the subject matter to be discussed, and then formulate your discussion points.

If you choose to select someone else to conduct the meeting, give him or her a week’s advanced notice to prepare for the meeting.

The moderator for the meeting must make sure that he or she maintains control over the meeting. Tell everyone at the beginning of the meeting how long the meeting will last and stick to the topic and time schedule announced. (There is nothing worse than a long safety meeting that is not relevant. Value the employee’s time, especially if they are attending the meeting on their normal time off from work). Some employees will want to be more actively involved in discussions than others and it is not fair that one employee dominate a discussion. It also helps to let everyone know that they will be asked a question in the meeting and that their active participation is expected when they are called upon.

What to discuss in the safety meeting:

Establishing a safety culture means integrating safety into everything that is done, every task, every day. Whether it is taking out the trash, or how we position ourselves when we sit or where we walk, or where we stack and store things, safety must be of the utmost priority.

Daily, every employee has to look for and identify workplace hazards and find solutions to eliminate the hazards. Safety initiatives do not have to come from the corporate office. Any employee can make a suggestion or take an appropriate action to prevent a workplace accident. If an employee has a suggestion that pertains to safety in the workplace, the idea or suggestion should be discussed with a manager.

Safety and Common Sense

Working safely should be as easy as breathing. However, breathing air can be complicated if we fill the air we breathe with contaminants. None of us would want to stop breathing, so we can take the necessary steps to keep breathing freely. Our approach to preventing accidents should be in the same way. We need to do whatever is necessary to avoid getting hurt.

Remember that no one will feel the pain of an accident like the victim. The pain could be short or it could be long lasting, depending on your tolerance level and the severity of the accident. The best way to avoid pain is to avoid the situations that can cause the pain.

We all should know the situations that can cause an injury. Sometimes, however, we can be ignorant about unsafe conditions, and for this reason, we each have to watch out for others and insure adequate safeguards are in place when hazardous situations exist or are created. This is why we sometimes use warning signs.

Root Causes for Accidents

The root causes of most accidents lay in four basic areas: speed, inattention, ignorance, lack of preparation.

· Speed: the act of going to fast for the conditions.

· Inattention: the act of doing two things at once.

· Ignorance: the act of not knowing.

· Lack of preparation: a failure to manage time and other resources appropriately.

All of these root causes can be managed and even eliminated.

Why have a Safety Culture? (“Top Five” Reasons for Establishing a Safety Culture)

1) History shows that accident prevention is not dumb luck, but the result of actual efforts.

2) Structured safety meetings alone will not prevent accidents.

3) Because we are all creatures of habit, and we need to replace bad habits with good habits.

4) To pass the responsibility for safety in the workplace to each employee instead of one over-worked manager.

5) To build a since of camaraderie in an otherwise world full of careless individuals.

Who is responsible for insuring there is a safety culture in the workplace?

To often we here in the workplace, “It’s not my job.” Well, when it comes to making the workplace safe, this is every employee’s job. True the manager may make the ultimate decision on what will be done, but it is every employee’s job to identify hazards, and where possible, and given the authority, eliminate or reduce the risk.

Questions to ask to get employees talking:

· What can each employee do on a daily basis to help identify unsafe conditions?

· Have employee identify at least three specific tasks each workday that requires a specific safe action?

· Get each employee’s input on whether or not they think a safety committee will work (or is working) to help establish a safety culture in the workplace.

· Do employees feel like they have a voice in creating safety rules within the company? If not, why not?

Standard Disclaimer and Warranty of Information Statement

©2007 RiskandSafetyManagement.Com. All rights Reserved. Limited reproduction without permission allowed with Disclaimer and Copyright intact. The provider of information makes no warranty as to the legal applicability of the enclosed information and assumes no liability in providing the enclosed information that is intended as a resource guide. Users should conduct or rely upon their own legal counsel and best practices before acting upon or otherwise using source materials enclosed or attached. Users are solely responsible for insuring compliance with applicable state, local and federal regulations and/or laws in accordance with retained legal counsel of the user’s choice.