Building a Safety Culture from the Top Down: The Key to a Safer Workplace
Safety in the workplace is often an afterthought or thought of as a hindrance to getting real work done. Having a couple of dusty signs warning your workers of loud noises isn’t necessarily a strong safety culture.
No matter where your team currently lands on the scale, you can build a strong safety culture and effect real change in your organization and team. Creating a culture of safety in the work environment goes a long way towards changing the mindset, and the actions, of both workers and management.
Let’s break down how to get there.
What does “Creating a Safety Culture” mean?
Creating a safety culture in the workplace means that all workers should be included in the safety and health program, given the training and tools to recognize good and bad safety practices, and feel comfortable advocating for their own safety and the safety of others around them. Employees should feel empowered to improve safety in their work area and throughout the facility.
Why do we want to promote a safety culture?
Any safety and health program needs the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives in order to be effective. Employees often know the most about potential hazards associated with their jobs and have much to gain from a successful program and the most to lose if the program fails. Successful programs tap into this knowledge base and use it to further the safety culture surrounding the work environment.
Who should participate?
All workers at a worksite should participate, including managers, supervisors, operators, and those workers employed by contractors, subcontractors, and temporary staffing agencies. Employee representatives should also participate in the program if there is a union in place.
8 ways to create an effective safety culture
Improving your safety culture doesn’t happen overnight. Building a safety culture requires a solid foundation, time, and a commitment to safety. An effective safety and health program should include the following:
1. Create a Vision
It’s hard to complete any journey if you don’t know where you’re going (or where you are). Lay the foundation of an effective safety culture by first surveying and working with your employees to determine their current attitudes towards safety and their thoughts on how effectively your organization addresses workplace hazards. Then use this information to establish objectives you can use in creating a safety-culture roadmap for your organization to follow. A clear, shared vision will help ensure that everyone is on board and knows what is expected of them.
2. Train Everyone on Safety
Do you want everyone in your workplace to have a personal stake in the safety culture? If so, they’re going to need to know what hazards exist, how best to respond to certain situations, and what kind of an impact they as individuals can have on workplace safety. Provide ongoing training sessions and reviews, and your people will be better prepared and more committed.
3. Lead by Example
It’s only natural that employees take their cues from management. Unfortunately, this means that if executives and other decision-makers are apathetic or dismissive toward safety, then their employees will probably follow suit. Leaders will need to be the most visible champions of company safety policies and programs. When employees see their managers demonstrate true commitment to building a safety culture, they’ll be much more likely to do the same.
4. Create a Safe Reporting System
Your employees are most directly connected to the workplace, which makes them valuable resources in identifying and eliminating on-site health risks. Create a process workers can use to call attention to safety concerns without any fear of retaliation. Reward employees who take advantage of the program to report possible hazards or other issues.
5. Communicate Regularly
The more you discuss safety, the more it will become ingrained in your company culture. Create and share documentation about safety policies, solicit employee feedback, and schedule regular safety discussions throughout your organization. Take things further by having different employees lead these meetings, so they can share their personal perspectives and insights in addition to the ones you bring to the table.
6. Empower Employees
Safety is too important to leave in the hands of only a few key individuals. Every employee should have the power to call attention to hazards or request that possibly dangerous operations or activities be reviewed to ensure that they meet established safety standards. Make sure that your employees understand that safety is a higher priority than production and that they should never hesitate to come forward if they think safety is being overlooked.
7. Advocate Accountability
Accountability is the other side of the coin from employee empowerment. Your workers need to understand that reporting unsafe conditions is more than just a right; it’s a responsibility they have to help protect others and encourage positive change. Recognize those who take the initiative to follow safety policies and bring a high level of safety awareness to their jobs, and encourage everyone to accept their personal role in building a safety culture.
8. Celebrate Success
With the right roadmap in place, you should be able to track the progress of your company through important safety milestones. As you reach various goals or overcome difficult challenges, share that success with the people who made it possible. Celebrate these achievements throughout the company in whatever ways seem appropriate, and ensure that everyone understands the significance of what they’ve accomplished.
Participation
Encouraging participation throughout your company starts with properly communicating safety standards. Once your employees understand safety standards, they can help with establishing, operating, evaluating, and improving the safety and health program. Team participation can be taken a step further by not just improving safety dialogue between workers and management, but also through showing workers how they can help keep each other safe.
Reporting Concerns
Workers should feel comfortable providing input and reporting safety or health concerns. A good way to do this is to maintain an open-door policy that invites workers to talk to managers about safety and to make suggestions. Communication between coworkers is important as well, and should also be encouraged! Conversations between coworkers about potential concerns could bring to light other risks that workers may not have known about or anticipated. Create an area in the facility where employees can report safety concerns, near-misses, or suggestions. This could simply be a lockbox on the wall that employees can submit paper cards of their concern. Be sure to label that the box is for reporting safety items and communicate it to all employees.
Access to Information
It is important to note that workers can only fully participate in the program when they have access to information they need to engage effectively and have opportunities to participate in all phases of program design and implementation. Communicate with employees about openings in the site’s Safety Committee or tell them about the safety reporting lockbox so they are aware of the opportunities to participate in the program. Post signs on bulletin boards, or on the Canteen’s TVs to increase worker knowledge of these opportunities. Workers should inspire each other to learn more about safety concerns and best practices associated with their jobs so that they can better protect each other from hazards. Supervisors should discuss risk assessments with workers on their specific tasks so the workers know the hazards and the controls in place to protect themselves and their co-workers. When workers are aware of the hazards and controls, they can look out for each other when they realize that someone is performing an unsafe act or they simply forgot to use their local exhaust ventilation or put on their chemical resistant gloves.
Eliminating Retaliation
Retaliation from management or from other team members should not be a concern when raising safety and health issues, reporting injuries, illnesses, and hazards, participating in the program, or exercising safety and health rights. It is against the law to retaliate against an employee under OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Retaliation could be firing, demoting, denying benefits, or reducing pay or hours. Management should make it clear that employees can report safety hazards or incidents without fear of repercussions; and it is essential to report any near misses, even if there was an unsafe action leading up to the near-miss; doing so could prevent a future injury. Using an anonymous reporting structure could help those employees who feel more reserved or unsafe in the communication of the hazards.
Empower Employees
All workers should feel empowered to initiate or request a temporary suspension or shut down of any work activity or operation they believe to be unsafe. Since your employees will know the most about what is and is not ‘normal’ to a task, allowing them to come forward and ask about investigating unsafe situations is a good practice, even if it might result in lower production for that day. Coworkers should remind each other not to prioritize production over safety, no matter the pressure or deadline.
Encourage Employees to Share
Including the teams’ input at every step of your site’s safety program improves the visibility of workplace hazards. When an employee reports a hazard, it must be mitigated in a timely manner to prevent future injuries or illnesses. Employees will feel empowered if they know their suggestions and concerns are taken seriously by management. Empowered employees create program ownership among workers and enhance understanding of how the program works. Ultimately, this helps to sustain the program over time.
Improving Safety Culture
To improve your company’s safety culture, encourage workers to participate in all aspects of the safety program including reporting safety concerns or suggesting an idea to make a process safer. Ensure employees have access to information such as risk assessments, how to report safety hazards, and how previously reported safety concerns were corrected. Management should make workers feel comfortable to share safety concerns and should fix them in a timely manner. Management should never retaliate against an employee for raising a safety concern or reporting an injury or illness. Empower employees by encouraging them to share their health and safety stories from their past experiences. By following these best practices for improving safety culture, the safety program will flourish and be sustained for years to come.
Partner with FRISK for Expert Guidance
At FRISK, our consultants bring extensive experience from global organisations, whether they are located in Africa, Europe, or the Nordics. We are dedicated to helping you build a safer workplace through tailored strategies that fit your specific needs.
Contact us today to find out how we can assist you in fostering a strong safety culture in your organization. Together, we can make your workplace safer for everyone!