PHILLIP M. MAPP - Vice President and Director of Safety, Health and Environmental, Louisiana Chemical Dismantling Co. (LCDC)
Wikipedia defines safety culture as "the collection of the beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to risks within an organization, such as a workplace or community." In an industry such as ours, risks for accidents and injuries are higher than in many other industries, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Therefore, it is imperative you have a sound safety and health program in place to promote the awareness and recognition of workplace hazards and eliminate as many of these hazards as possible. In order to effectively reduce the risk of workplace accidents and/or injuries, all employees must be knowledgeable of potential hazards and participate in recognizing, correcting or reporting these hazards.
Upper management's commitment to workplace safety encourages workers to take safety seriously, which translates into a safer work environment for everyone. Responsibility for encouraging the safety culture may start with upper management, but it is passed down directly through project managers, supervisors and crew foremen on to each individual. Everyone has a part in keeping themselves and others safe.
Creating an effective safety culture is an ongoing process and takes a large commitment on behalf of the entire company. OSHA offers the following suggestions for establishing and maintaining a strong safety culture:
1.Define safety responsibilities for each level within your organization. This should include policies, goals and plans.
2.Define your safety vision. Everyone should be in the same boat when establishing goals and objectives for the safety culture.
3.Enforce accountability. Create a process that holds everyone accountable for being visibly involved, especially managers and supervisors. They are the leaders who can influence positive change.
4.Provide multiple options for employees to bring their concerns or issues full-face. There should be a chain of command to make sure supervisors are held accountable for being responsive.
5.Report, report, report. Educate employees on the importance of reporting injuries, first aids and near-misses.
6.Rebuild and evaluate the investigation system to make sure investigations are conducted in an effective manner.
7.Build trust. When things start to change in the workplace, it is important to keep the water calm. Building trust will help everyone work together.
8.Celebrate success. Make your efforts public to keep everyone motivated and updated throughout the process.
Enforcing accountability is key to successfully maintaining an effective safety culture. If managers and supervisors are lax and not held accountable, the safety culture for their area of responsibility will be below expectations and increase risks for injuries and/or incidents. I recommend recognizing those demonstrating safe behavior on a regular basis as well as those who participate at a high level in reporting hazards and offering suggestions for improving safety.
Establishing and maintaining a good safety culture may be a challenge at times when there are short-term projects or when new and/or short-term employees are utilized to staff a project. Although you may have project managers and supervisors who have been with the company for years and have demonstrated their commitment to safety, they are now charged with setting up all aspects of a new project with newly employed personnel who may not understand the expectations for your safety culture. Typically a one-day new-hire orientation does not fully instill in the new employees the company's safety culture they are expected to immediately participate in.
Never assign new employees to tasks where they are working on their own. An experienced company foreman familiar with your safety and health policies and procedures should supervise and "coach" the new employees during daily work activities as needed. Continue to develop the safety culture for the project by encouraging the new employees to look for and report hazards in their work areas. Encourage them to participate in the daily toolbox safety talks and express any concerns they may have pertaining to safety hazards or other job-related issues. This will also help them become more comfortable around coworkers and speak up about matters pertaining to safety.
For more information, visit www. lcdc-invirex.com or call (504) 464-0770.
