– Where do you attribute the greatest financial losses in your company due to workplace accidents?
– Can you effectivity measure employee retention goals, and are they being met?
– How can your team better align their job descriptions and expectations?
Working as a Safety Manager during a recent a routine site walk-through, I immediately realized that Max was using the stepladder incorrectly. He had left the legs of the stepladder closed together, with the back of the stepladder leaned against the wall, and he had ascended the first four steps of the ladder. I asked Max to climb down, and we had a brief discussion regarding safe use of that type of ladder. In the past I had gotten to know Max fairly well in a series of meetings with him as well as chatting together at different work locations.
Max immediately recognized he wasn’t using the stepladder correctly and appeared to be fairly embarrassed. He readily “owned” the error and thanked me for pointing it out. In turn, I thanked him for his attitude and his willingness to be open to the conversation. I then left the work area and continued with the balance of my day. I intentionally chose not formally report it since it was an unintentional error, and the situation was corrected on the spot.
Several days later, Max went on to discuss with fellow team members the correct way to use the stepladder. This group also routinely contributes articles addressing safe work practices to the company newsletter. Max had gone on to submit his own article, acknowledging the important of using a ladder correctly.
As a result of Max’s newsletter article, it also got the attention of the senior management team, which applauded my critical assessment of how to implement a simple but critical training experience. Company policy is important but understanding positive safety culture is a interpersonal experience as well.
Many companies profess to having a culture of safety but lack the fundamental understanding regarding what is required to achieve that culture. As noted in Navigating Your Safety Culture Journey, while every company has a safety culture, it may not be the one they want. Based upon the Mike’s insight gained from over thirty years of hands on experience assisting the safety culture efforts of numerous companies, combined with real-world examples and proven foundational philosophies, you will:
- Better understand the overall health of your current safety culture.
- Recognize the pitfalls from over reliance on OSHA DART/TRC Rates.
- Learn techniques to enhance employee engagement.
- Gain perspective regarding metrics that can inadvertently enable undesired behavior.
- Discover the importance of clearly defining your desired end state, combined with practicing deliberate speed.
Regardless of where you currently are on your safety culture journey, the book can provide valued insight. The concepts provided in the book can also assist with developing value-added metrics as well as techniques to support successful long-term implementation. In short, Navigating Your Safety Culture Journey can prove to be one of the most informative books in your collection supporting your safety culture efforts both now and in the future.