Review of Safety Culture and the importance of fostering it

1. Safety Culture Refresher

2. Safety Culture Beginning Beliefs
Safety must be a # 1 priority.
Safety goals must be Zero Incident
Safety is a function of the organization
Safety is everyone’s responsibility.

3. BASIC SAFETY PHILOSOPHY
Every incident can be avoided.
No job is worth getting hurt for.
Every job will be done safely.
Incidents can be managed.
Most importantly safety is everyone’s
responsibility.

4. KEY SAFETY PRINCIPLES
Working safety is a condition of employment.
Each employee is expected to give consideration to
the prevention of injury to self and to coworkers.
Involvement and thinking of all people in the safety
process is valued and expected.
Continual improvement is the goal.
Individual and teams must be recognized for their
adherence to and advancement of safety.

5. FOUR A’s FOR SAFETY
1. Attitude.
2. Awareness.
3. Action.
4. Accountability.

6. Safety Culture
Definition of culture
 Culture is a set of values, behaviors, and
norms that guide interactions between
people
 It is the “personality” of a workplace
 It is “how things are done around here”
 It is sometimes difficult to see because
they are deeply held assumptions
developed over time.

7. Safety Culture
Safety involves more than infrastructure
 People get hurt despite good infrastructure.
 Bad things CAN happen to good people.
 Policies, processes, equipment and
environment have little impact on behaviors,
actions, and choices people make as they
perform their jobs and related tasks.

8. Safety Culture
Safety is a way of life – a Process, not a
Program
This is not something extra to do
Safety should be incorporated into how we do
everything:
You can be a safety leader in your workplace
and help protect others by being safe yourself
and observing others for safe practice assurance
Encourage others to live safety as a core value
that will NOT be compromised for any reason

9. Safety Culture
Positive Safety Culture
 The safety environment is positive
 Safety talk is positive
 Safe behavior is rewarded
 Potential hazards are identified, analyzed
and controlled
 Strong safety infrastructure in place

10. Safety Culture
Characteristics of a Positive Safety Culture
 Safety is a value, not a goal or program
 Safety is held as a value by all employees
 Each individual feels responsible for the
safety of their coworkers as well as
themselves – safety is personal
 Each individual is willing and able to “take
action” to ensure the safety of others even
when uncomfortable or unpopular
 Each individual routinely performs actively
caring and/or safe behaviors for the benefit
of others

11. Safety Culture
A person 100% committed to Safety
 Unwilling to compromise on safety
 Consciously competent
 Internally motivated and accountable
 Rewards safe behavior
 Looks to eliminate causes, not place
blame
 Actively caring behaviors towards
coworkers

12. Safety Culture
 Nobody comes to work to get injured.
 No one expects to get injured.
 If we did expect an injury to occur we
would do whatever we could to prevent
it.
 If we don’t believe we will get hurt, what
incentive is there for not taking shortcuts?
 Workers must believe that unsafe
behaviors leads to injury.

13. Safety Culture Top Idea
Safety Awareness,
Hazard Recognition,
and Risk Analysis
need to be personal

14. Safety Culture
Personal safety awareness
 What is personal safety awareness?
• Always being aware of your surroundings
 What is hazard recognition?
• Being able to identify hazards before they
result in injury
 What is risk analysis?
• Analyzing the probability and severity of
risk in order to reduce the possibility that
harm will occur

15. Reminders: Remind each other several times a day to stop and
think about performing the task safely every time.
Observations:
Observations (both planned and
unplanned) are an excellent way for
supervisors & workers to keep safety in
the forefront.
Near Miss
reporting:
An excellent tool for hazard recognition and control.
Review:
Review procedures and work instructions periodically to
refresh your mind on the proper way to do a task so
unsafe behaviors do not become habit.
Tailgate meetings can be used to discuss safe work
practices.

16. Near Miss Importance
What is a Near Miss?
Near Miss - An incident or unsafe condition with
potential for injury or property damage
 Only a fortunate break in the chain of events
prevented an injury or fatality.
 Near Miss incidents typically out number first aid
injuries by a ratio of 20 - 1.
 They are numerous and we can learn something
from each one. They are typically small in scale,
relatively simple to analyze and easy to resolve.
 Can prevent significant future incidents.

17. Safety Reporting (Near Miss)
Why report a Near Miss?
 Near miss incidents should be regarded as early
warnings that something is wrong somewhere in
the system that could result in future injury.
 If the Near Miss is reported and investigated we
can learn why it happened and prevent it from
occurring again.
 For every near miss that is reported and
investigated, a potential injury to one of our
workers has been prevented.

18. Safety Culture Question
How often do you take time
throughout the day to think
about the hazards that could
be – or are – associated with
the task you are about to do?

19. Safety Culture
Bottom Line
 Safety needs to become a personal value
that will not be compromised.
 As safety leaders in your workplace, you
need to create and support a culture that
coaches and encourages people to work
safely.