Few people would argue that safety is not a prime goal across all O&G industry. Perhaps not quite as obvious is the concept that safety is a choice.
"We all make decisions, and the decisions that we make affect other people," according to Andy Jackson, HSE manager with Solvay Chemicals. "Are we going to make the right safety choices or the wrong safety choices? It’s up to you, and we have to relay that information to our teams."
Discussing how to build a trusted team at the Environmental, Health and Safety Seminar and Trade Show in Galveston, Texas, Jackson emphasized that leaders play "a key role" in shaping their site’s safety culture.
Safety culture, Jackson explained, is "the collection of the beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to risks within an organization. When we share those same values, we’re all working as one unit and moving in the same direction."
In order for any organization to have a good safety culture, it is also essential for leaders to encourage commitment among employees.
Good safety culture requires trust, consistency, communication
Andy Jackson, HSE manager with Solvay Chemicals
"We have to promote realistic practices for how we handle unsafe behaviors. Unsafe behaviors account for as much as 80-90% of injuries at work," he said. "Think about the conversations and actions you witness in the workplace and what employees say about your safety culture," he said. "Would you define your safety culture as good or bad, or as maybe needing a little work? You might think it’s great, but what do the employees think? Really dig down deep and ask those questions and get honest feedback."
Jackson suggested that managers avoid using the word "change" in this self-assessment.
"I hate the word change, because change can be either positive or negative," he said. "Don’t just change the culture. Improve the culture." Jackson shared integral characteristics of a strong safety culture and cited integrity as its top priority. "That’s people doing the right thing even if nobody’s looking," he said.
Jackson explained that a strong safety culture encourages people to communicate concerns and report hazards without fear. "If we don’t have any near misses reported for the month, did we have a safe and successful month? Probably, but did we get lucky? Well, luck runs out," Jackson said, adding that another attribute of a strong safety culture is to focus on solutions rather than blame.
If we’re focusing on blame or on writing up that employee, we’re not looking at the root cause of what’s making that employee’s behavior be at risk," he said.
Behavior-based safety requires leaders to focus on worker’s behavior when they are performing the task, Jackson continued.
"Only 10% is due to unsafe conditions," he said. "The condition might be an obstacle in the walkway. Dig down into the behavior of why that trip hazard is there."
Jackson admitted that employees may sometimes look at safety as an obstacle. "They may think it’s too much trouble and they don’t want to deal with it," he said.
Another obstacle to a positive safety culture is inconsistent enforcement of procedures and protocol, he said.
"There’s no consistency if you look at one person and say, ‘Hey, it’s not important to wear your face shield,’ and then say to the next guy, ‘Hey, you better wear your face shield all the time.’ That’s a playing-favorites kind of thing," he said.
Jackson also warned against lack of safety training.
"Either we’re not doing it, we’re not doing it right or people just aren’t getting the message," he said, "and that, again, is the result of lack of communication."
