Superior Safety Performance A Reflection of an Organizations Culture

SUPERIOR SAFETY PERFORMANCE A REFLECTION OF AN ORGANIZATION S CULTURE 

In previous editions of this book, this chapter was titled Successful Safety Management A Reflection of an Organization s Culture. Note that in this edition successful has been replaced by superior. In discussions with some safety practitioners, I found that what they considered successful might really be only slightly better than average and not superior. 

What is described here is a reflection of the safety initiatives in a few large, worldwide companies where the safety record truly is superior, meaning outstanding in relation to others in similar businesses. It s my view that if an entity wants to achieve superior safety results, compared to the best in the world, the concepts and procedures set forth here must be adopted. As the term safety is used in this chapter, it encompasses environmental affairs, occupational health and safety, and product safety. 

In determining whether the safety results are superior, the incident experience and the costs, measured over a sufficiently long term, are the principle determinants. Subjective judgments won t qualify for this purpose. But, it is not suggested that achieving outstanding or excellent safety results is easy, whatever measures are applied. 

I refer to an article titled Safety and Health Excellence Proves Elusive. It appeared in the July 2002 issue of Occupational Hazards (p. 28). Compilations are given of the reader responses to the Occupational Hazards  

Many large organizations have achieved and maintained superior safety results as evidenced by their best-in-class OSHA incident rates and by phenomenally low worker compensation costs. This chapter provides a composite review of the safety management systems in place in those organizations for the benefit of safety professionals who might ask How did they achieve their superior records  

One could argue that superior OSHA incident rates are not absolutely indicative as performance measures, and they are not. Some of those companies with superior OSHA statistical records are faced with the dilemma of having occasional serious injuries and fatalities. That subject is discussed in Chapter 8, Improving Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention.  

Nevertheless, this is what is said about OSHA incident rates in Chapter 25, Measurement of Safety Performance  

Without question, there are inconsistencies, even within companies, in classifying and recording for OSHA statistics. Still, if the inconsistencies in the reporting system remain constant, the data produced can serve as 

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