1. The Safety Culture We Should Adopt?
A Safety Culture can be thought of as a set of values, beliefs, perceptions and behaviors that an organization espouses with respect to safety habits while conducting its business.
2. Every organization has a safety culture, intentional or not so intentional. The important thing is:
- Whether we want a particular safety culture and
- What do we do to create it?
- Whether we set ourselves goals to achieve it?
3. THE SAFETY CULTURE WE ADOPT MUST HAVE THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:
a. Communication is open at all levels of the organization and feedback is considered vital to improving safety processes.
b. Individuals at all levels focus on what should be done to prevent injuries or illnesses.
c. There is a commitment to safety as much as it is for the business.
d. People and their safety and health are considered important.
e. The focus is on the people, and the contribution to the bottom line is a natural outcome.
f. All personnel, especially senior managers, lead by example and demonstrate their commitment to safety by following all safety processes and procedures, just as they want their employees to do.
g. Good habits are practiced both at work and away.
4. THE SAFETY CULTURE WE MUST AVOID HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:
a. Communication is not open at all levels; employees’ feedback is considered neither important nor encouraged.
b. Safety rules are used as a stick to discipline and penalize.
c. Management may not follow safety rules (for example, not wearing seat belts, not abstaining from smoking in nonsmoking areas, not using Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), using cell phone while driving, etc.).
d. Focus on business results outweighs focus on safety.
e. Safety is sermonized to create good safety records and documentation.
f. Safety shutter is pulled down after office hours.
