Changing a Safety Culture

Without exception development or change starts with the management s commitment by actions and not words. Words have no substance, but action or behaviors have substance. During this process, actions and development must be maintained by a continuous, constant, and consistent effort. It must be worked at, a new plan must exist, a new approach must be fostered, and support must be gained from all involved. 

These changes are contingenf on leaders who are commiffed to change and open to sharing safety information. Open communications without fear of reprisal and knowledge that action will 

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT A PRACTICAL APPROACH 

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Step 1. Identification of the Risk and Safety Work TO Be Done to Change a Safety Culture... 

Without safety amnesty no safety management system can be fuUy effective, and changing a safety culture will be almost impossible. Safety cultures can only be nurtured in a safe space. 

Senior management must support and commit to culture change by demonstrating commitment to safety by providing resources to achieve results. The message must be consistent and sustained because it takes a long time to develop or change a safety culture. 

Attempting to change a safety culture can also cause stress at the workplace. But consider a starting point where should one start The answer is simple—everywhere And the best place to initiate change everywhere is at the top. So, start at the top the changes will work their way down to the bottom. Once the changes get to the bottom, the effect of these newfound changes and more will work their way back up to the top. 

These deficiencies and the need for holistic evaluation to determine whether a safety culture has been achieved are emphasized in major reports at notes 14 and 15 supra in particular. But the term safety culture is ambiguous and requires definition and criteria to be useful, as discussed in M. Baram and M. Schoebel, Safety Culture and Behavioral Change at the Workplace, Safety Science, v. 45, n. 6 (July 2007). 

Poor management control or lack of management control is what invariably leads to accidents, which in turn cause loss. The key to a positive safety culture, a weak safety culture, or a change in safety culture is management s commitment, involvement, and leadership of the safety drive. 

The safety and health of employees at the workplace is the ultimate responsibility of the management of the organization. Even though it is generally accepted that all share a role in safety, the ultimate accountability lies with all levels of the leadership. With this in mind, the implementation of a safety management system with the intent of changing the safety culture can only be successful if initiated, led, and supported by all management. 

Based on risk assessments, a manager lists and schedules the work needed to be done to create a safe and healthy work environment and to eliminate high-risk acts of people. If the need is to change the safety culture at the workplace, this would mean the inti oduction of a suitable structured SMS based on world s best practice. All SMS should be based on the nature of the business and be risk based, management led, and audit driven. 

A chief executive and his fellow managers can either give minimum commitment to the safety movement or maximum commitment and support. A successful change of safety culture needs both initial and ongoing management support as well as buy-in from the unions and employees. Line management must take the lead and be active participants. 

Safety systan snccesses can be publicized via the weekly safety newsletta, internal email, or be posted on the company s internal website and on the safety notice boards. The more safety conunnnication that takes place during a safety culture change intervention, the better. 

Attempts to change the safety culture may have failed in the past, and if a direct effort and full commitment is not made, will fail in the future. This failure may also have been due to the organization attempting to change the behavior of employees. 

The introduction and maintenance of a structured safety system will lead to a safety culture change within the organization. If one considers the effort, commitment, and change to the way safety is normally managed in a plant, the safety system will bring about a culture change. It will force leadership to become leaders and to create a positive environment where employees can feel comfortable participating in the safety activities. 

For a safety culture change intervention to be successful, there must be a climate of trust between employees and management. This includes declaring a truce and moving the focus away from injury blame fixing and fault finding to a safe space where injuries can be reported without fear of reprimand—a space where employees safety concerns can be freely expressed. This amnesty is the only way to create a climate in which old embedded safety habits and beliefs can change. 

The safety policy statement is a substitute for repetitive management decisions and is mandatory. This is the guiding document in a safety system and perhaps the most important in implementing a change in safety culture. Although the concept safety should appear in the vision and mission statements of the organization, the safety policy statement is the declaration of the company s safety intent, commitment, and responsibility to constantly promote a safe and healthy work enviromnent. This policy should be extensively publicized and displayed on all notice boards, on the company website, in the employee safety handbook, and in prominent positions throughout the workplace. 

Before expecting a change in safety culture, the physical workplace must be put in order. This includes the guarding of all machinery, the erection of handrails where necessary, and any other modification or repair required to bring the workplace up to compliance with safety legislation. The electrical installation must be safe, and all electrical switches and circuit breakers must be clearly labeled in a standardized... 

Erontline supervisors have the greatest opportunity to manage safety, as they are normally at the workplace where the work is carried out They are key to a safety culture change and are expected to ... 

The proactive activities required by the safety system change the way safety is traditionally viewed and managed. Once employees see that effort is directed into proactive activities, and that the sole focus of safety is not them and the injury rate, they feel confident to become a part of the process. Getting employees on board is a major change in safety culture, and normally one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. When employees see that the executive has signed a safety policy, meets monthly to direct the safety of the workplace, appoints employees as health and safety representatives, does plant inspections, and has safety as part of its personal key performance areas, then they know that safety is part and parcel of the organization, and that is an indication of a positive safety culture. 

The next question posed to Friend (2012) was, In a safety culture change intervention where does safety belong ... 

As stated by Friend (2012), the safety practitioner and his or her department will play a major role in changing the safety culture. However, change must also take place within the safety department They should also be aligned with up-to-date loss causation theories and let go of the paradigm that the majority of accidents are caused by the behavior of the workers. 

That s when 1 realized he didn t know what a safety culture change agent was or what he does He was a lawyer, and his safety knowledge was limited to defense in a woik fatality trial. That was the first time 1 wanted to resign. 

Was it worth it Yes I had never experienced such stress in all my life, and for the first time my health had been threatened by a safety culture change effort. My advice Be sure you know what safety culture change is all about and be prepared for the stress that it creates. No pain, no gain ... 

This was a radical change in safety culture, as in the past the safety department always had to get along with minimum manpower. A special office was allocated, and so the mine NOSA Task Force was formed. 

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