CREATING A SAFETY CULTURE

Jane Ardern, Manager of Education and Inform ation Services, WorkSafe

Aim The purpose of this session is to firstly, examine the current culture in your w orkplace in regards to the management of safety and health and secondly, look at w hat you can do in your role to assist in creating a safe working environment. What is safety culture? There is no single definition of a safety culture. The term first arose after the investigation of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 w hich led to safety culture being defined as an organisational atmosphere w here safety and health is understood to be, and is accepted as, the number one priority. In high-risk industries, like aviation, nuclear pow er, chemical manufacturing and fuel transportation this makes sense. How ever, the problem is that safety and health does not exist in a vacuum isolated from other aspects of organisations, such as people and financial management, as it both influences and is influenced by them, so safety culture is really a part of the overall corporate culture. On this basis a more realistic definition may be A safety culture is an organisational atmosphere where safety and health is understood to be, and is accepted as, a high priority. What factors in the workplace contribute towards establishing a good safety culture? Firstly, it is not possible to graft a safety culture onto an organisation, as each organisation is unique, and the best safety systems in the w orld w ill fail w ithout a supportive culture.

Attitudes

Environment

Systems

Attitudes, both personal and organisational, affect the development of a safety culture in a workplace. The environment in w hich people work and the systems and processes in an organisation also influence the safety culture. Therefore, each organisation needs to consider all of these aspects in developing and nurturing a safety culture that suits the organisation and the individuals w ithin it. The available literature indicates that a num ber of factors are in place in organisations that have a good safety culture. 1. Comm itment at all levels The organisation adopts safety and health as a core value and actively cares for the workforce. The vision for the organisation is that the w orkplace w ill be free of incidents/injuries and safety and health is integrated into every aspect of the work process. This attitude is evident throughout the organisation from the managing director through to the new est and most inexperienced member of the w orkforce.

2. Safety and health are treated as an investment not a cost Risk management of safety and health issues is not treated as a cost, but as a way to improve the performance of the organisation. Safety and health is reported on as part of the budget development process and funded accordingly. 3. Safety and health is part of continuous im provement If safety and health is integrated into every part of the organisation then it becomes part of the continuous improvement process. This means that resources and time is set aside to ensure that the organisation can identify the w eaknesses and develop strategy to resolve and strengthen safety performance. 4. Training and inform ation is provided for everyone People w ho are provided w ith regular information about safety and health at w ork are more likely to be mindful of safety and health issues and the w ays in w hich their actions can affect themselves and others. Posters, w arning signs and policies are not enough. Safety and health discussions and information distribution should be built into all aspects of the w ork process from board meetings to individual interactions. People w ho are properly trained in their jobs and are aw are of the hazards associated with the role they, or those they supervise, perform are less likely to suffer or cause injury. Training can take a variety of forms and should be ongoing throughout an individuals time w ith the organisation. 5. A system for workplace analysis and hazard prevention and control is in place Management systems, safety systems and individual attitudes and perceptions can be researched, measured and analysed to gain a picture of the current state of the organisation and reveal barriers that prevent people from performing at their best. This is often referred to as a climate survey and assists in establishing a base line for the organisation to start from. Climate surveys are conducted at regular intervals in organisations that strive for a good safety culture to measure successes. Reporting systems are easy to use i.e. compact, open-ended, impersonal and in practice management w ant to know and learn from hazard identification and near misses before they become accidents. Attention is paid to the details and s mall events. The w ay reports are analysed is agreed to ensure that individual and system issues are revealed and appropriate control measures taken. 6. The environment in w hich people w ork is blame free Trust is an essential part of a good safety culture and often the most difficult hurdle to overcome in establishing a safety culture. Everyone in the organisation is encouraged to realise that incidents are w orth reporting and feels comfortable in correcting unsafe practice across, dow n and up the hierarchy. If this is the case, management actually know what is going on and the w orkforce tell the truth, even if it is not w hat management may w ant to hear. Holding people at all levels accountable for safety means embracing bad new s.

7. The organisation celebrates successes Recognition, rew ards, incentives, reinforcement and feedback are important. A good safety culture makes it w orthwhile for everyone to maintain a state of mindfulness by celebrating success whether big or small. Safety culture is about improving safety and health management w ith a holistic, w hole of organisation, w hole of life approach. How do I develop a safety culture in my workplace? To develop a safety culture, change needs to be driven from the highest levels. The extent to w hich you can influence the organisation largely depends on your place w ithin the hierarchy. The first place to start is to talk about the issue to senior management through existing communications structures such as: Team meetings Strategic planning sessions Safety and health representative netw orks Safety and health committees Suggestion schemes Use existing information to support your arguments such as: Accident/incident rates Workers compensation costs Absenteeism rates Numbers of reported hazards The existence (or lack of) OSH supporting structures and programs Budget allocation to safety and health initiatives from annual reports etc If you have commitment from senior management reflected in policy then the next step is to establish w here you are at as an organisation and plan to move forw ard from there. People are both products and producers of their environment. Trying to change peoples attitudes w ithout looking at the environment they w ork in and the systems they w ork with is doomed to failure. Any change initiatives need to take account of the interrelationship betw een people, environment and systems as in Diagram 1. The WorkSafe Plan is a scheme that assists organisations to implement a risk management approach to safety and health in the w orkplace and many of the elements contained w ithin the plan are those that make up a positive safety culture in an organisation. WorkSafe Plan can be used to: provide information on desirable safety and management practices; identify the strengths and w eaknesses of management systems; provide a measure for safety performance; and direct attention to areas that could be improved.

WorkSafe Plan encourages the continuous improvement of safety performance as part of a best practice approach to safety management. The Wor kSafe Plan is suitable for organisations of all sizes.

Remember that occupational safety and health is an area that both management and workers can see benefits in. Any process that brings about cooperation betw een all levels of an organisation can only strengthen its culture. It is easier to promote a safety culture than to bring about changes to productivity, quality and profitability. Yet, establishing and developing a positive safety culture is cost effective, increases productivity and efficiency and improves the organisations financial bottom line. There is alw ays more than one w ay to achieve a positive outcome.

Diagram 1.

Attitudes
Senior management Middle management Supervisors Workers Safety and health representatives and committee members Other stakeholders like contractors

Environment
Type of organisation Financial status Types of work performed Job design Pace of w ork Site safety and health plan Training available Safety and health reps and committees Lines of communication Incidence and injury rates

Hazard reporting process Incident reporting process Auditing processes Investigation processes Communication and feedback systems

Systems