Safety Culture Change Success

The degree of integration of safety principles and standards, and employee involvement in the system, is directly proportional to the amount of management leadership and commitment. The more encouragement and support management gives employees, the more positive their attitude will become and the more they will partake in the safety system. 

The chief executive officer (CEO) of any firm is the leader, and if he leads for safety, others will follow. Top management must always set an example for others to follow. Setting an example for safety is of crucial importance in the safety system. Management must set the standards, take the lead, and be prime examples of safety. Safety cultures start with the lead and direction given by executive management. 

John R. Childress (2009) refers to leadership shadows and says. 

And the most difficult reason of all (because it s difficult for senior executives to accept) is that in most cases the corporate culture is a direct reflection of the senior team, a phenomenon called Shadow of the Leader (Senn and Childress, 1999). In other words, employees take their clues on how to behave and how to get ahead by watching the collective and individual behavior of the senior executives. And in most cases the behavior of the senior team is invisible to themselves—they don t see the shadows they are casting (p. 3) 

Change cannot and does not begin with the employees. Employee behaviors are a reflection of the workplace and the safety ethos of the workplace that they work in. Their behaviors are a direct reflection of the state of the workplace, and the state of the workplace is determined by the leadership and the standards it sets. 

---

Positive behavior reinforcement is one of the vital ingredients to safety success, especially to safety culture change interventions. Of all the efforts and functions carried out by leadership, positive behavior reinforcanent is likely to have the greatest effect on the success of the safety systan and consequent culture change. 

Acknowledging employees is vital to the success of the system. The power of a small gesture of thanks and recognition cannot be overstated in its importance in bringing about safety culture change. 

Safety objectives must be set, and people must know what their authority within the safety management system is. Ownership of a segment of the safety system can help lead to participation and safety success. All employees, irrespective of their standing, should be given the ability (authority) to participate actively in the safety management system. This participation is a key component of safety culture change. 

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. 

In 2001 he spent 2 years in Zambia introducing world s best safety practices to the copper mining industry. Thereafter, he accepted a 2-year contract in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Arabian Gulf, where he successfully implemented a safety culture change at the country s second largest employer. 

The third guideline is to develop a tailor-made approach for each country. It is recognized that there are large differences in nuclear practices between the U.S. and Russia. A successful approach should be tailor-made for each country. The U.S. approach should not be applied to Russia without change, and likewise, the Russian approach should not be applied to U.S. without change. There are, however, many common factors in safety culture and practices that will contribute to the success of excess Pu and HEU storage and disposition activities. One should try to identify these common factors and incorporate them in the practices of each country. 

Simon expressed the view that the culture drives behavior and that a culture change is required for success in behavior-based safety. Simon s speech became a paper that was published by the American Society of Safety Engineers in the Proceedings—A Behavioral Safety Symposium, 1998. These are excerpts from Simon s paper titled The Culture Change Model of Behavioral Safety. ... 

A management that wants to achieve a culture change is best served if the deficiencies noted and the proposals for improvement made in audit reports principally effect safety management systems. Successes of safety audits are determined by how they affect the organization s culture. (See Chapter 22, On Safety, Health, and Environmental Audits. )... 

This chapter will reinforce the fact that lean is not a program, but rather a mindset or a way of thinking. Examples clarify why a successful lean implementation requires changing the culture of the business via employee engagement and involvement so that it is populated with lean thinkers that focus on customer and process cycle time reduction This understanding combined with the adoption and use of lean tools can build a world-class safety culture. Another key point is that a lean leadership style and some common lean tools will allow you to improve both safety and lean at the same time. 

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. 

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. 

The safety department will undoubtedly play a major role in the culture change program and the maintenance of the SMS, and therefore needs to be correctly staffed, structured, and focused. Correct qualifications and relevant experience of staff members are essential to the success of the endeavor. 

The safety department plays a key role in safety culture shift, and its role could determine the success or failure of the venture. Conversely, a safety department that is not used correctly could be a stumbling block in the culture change process. 

The following sections explore what a safety culture looks like, the leaders role in nurturing such a culture, embracing failure and successes, and changing... 

---