In 2012, Ben Mitchell suffered a training accident while he was in the Virgin Islands National Guard. Mitchell's leg had to be amputated below the knee. It was a traumatic and life-changing event for him and his family, but they were able to persevere. Even after all he's been through, the accident hasn't stopped Mitchell from being active in charity organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team or helping those in the industry who are facing challenges regarding their safety cultures.
Mitchell, now a retired Army colonel and Texas plants compliance and risk management manager for Lubrizol, has been speaking to refineries and chemical plants about transforming safety cultures for approximately 10 years -- even before his accident. Prior to joining Lubrizol, he worked for Hess, Hovensa and then Koch Industries, where he was responsible for aligning the safety culture in more than 30 plants.
Mitchell advises if someone's mission is to evolve or transform a culture , that individual is going to be the unpopular person because no one likes change.
"However, if that person is armed with these two things, everything will be fine: integrity and doing the right thing," he said. "If you have integrity and you're doing the right thing, it's OK to be unpopular. At the end of the day, your results will prove you right."
According to Mitchell, everybody has his or her own definition of a culture, but it is important for everyone to agree on what a culture is. And beyond that culture is what Mitchell calls "an invisible culture."
"An invisible culture is what employees do when their supervisors or authority figures aren't around," he explained. "This is the real culture we all need to know. A lot of personnel usually dismiss the invisible culture and that comes back to haunt them.
"Transforming a safety culture involves defining the culture, building the plan or strategy, communicating the desired culture, executing the plan, rewarding the behaviors that are driving the change and, most importantly, continuously evaluating and improving the culture."
However, there are potential barriers or showstoppers that could halt the transformation of a safety culture. Mitchell warns about those "compliance scholars" in the workplace who know how to complete the checklist or give answers, but those don't equate to acceptable work execution and performance.
"You can't have leaders who are derailing or misaligning the culture in any way," Mitchell said. "I'm all about quality, too. I don't want to hear just how complete something is. I want to know about integrating quality."
Mitchell encourages asking questions and digging up more information about your safety culture.
"The deeper you excavate, the more you dig up and discover about your culture," he said. "Transforming a culture isn't a program or a process; it is a journey. And for sustainability, a culture needs unified leadership.
Leaders need to talk and make sure their actions demonstrate the goals and expectations that are put in place."
When effectively assessing a safety culture, every employee, shift and level needs to be touched by the new strategy. Otherwise that piece or element left out will lead to consequences, Mitchell stated.
"There needs to be an actionable change strategy with frequent validation checks," he said. "And you can't expect people to start doing things differently without rewards or recognition. Most importantly, you have to continuously improve this process. Change requires change! Do not accept the old ways, norms and practices; the established standards are no longer negotiable."
For more information, contact Ben Mitchell at Benedict.Mitchell@Lubrizol.com or (340) 643-7339.
