Worley

Inspiring safety cultures does not happen by accident. They happen on purpose! Safety leaders have an important role in effectively communicating the what, why, and how when it comes to working safely to the work-family members. The work-family members' understanding of what, why, and how is important in developing and sustaining a mature safety culture. Understanding the reason and how working safely will be achieved is important to capture the hearts and minds of those most impacted by the safety culture. Work-family members, more so now than ever in history, want to know why they are asked or required to take certain actions to support a maturing or mature safety culture.

The What – All work families desire to work in mature safety cultures.

The Mature Safety Culture Level Is Characterized By:

● The highest level of leadership involvement in the safety programs and processes (e.g., executives say and do the right things and their expected safe behaviors are cascaded throughout all levels of leadership)

● Solid and consistently applied safe work planning and execution processes are in place (e.g., a formal job hazard analysis process is used consistently throughout the organization)

● Safety training is in place at all levels (e.g., work-family members receive effective, safe work training from new hires to the CEO)

● Consistent engagement in the positive safety culture elements (e.g., work-family members are part of creating, assessing, and evolving the safety program)

● Consistent positive and constructive recognition of safety performance 

● Developed proactive safety vision that is easily articulated and embraced by all – an attitude that ‘we can and will perform every task safely or not at all.'

Mature safety cultures are created and nurtured by the safety leader(s). Safety leaders not only communicate what (Focused on No One Getting Hurt) about having a mature safety culture, but they also behave in alignment with the aspiration.

The Why–Understanding the reason for taking certain safe actions helps work family members adopt the behaviors as natural ways of working and living (e.g., using handrails when ascending stairs, coming to full stops at stop signs, wearing required personal protective equipment and being situationally aware of safety risk). Work-family members will work safely, naturally, and by habit when their hearts and minds align with

The Why in Working Safely

I do things as a habit when I understand the value they bring me and others. Knowing the safety culture ‘Why’ (We Want Everyone Going Home Injury Free) aligns and inspires work family members to do the right and safe things all the time no matter where they are and no matter who may be watching:

● Using a seat belt whenever traveling in a vehicle to prevent serious injury in case of a motor vehicle accident.

● Wearing a hard hat whenever there are opportunities for objects to fall from overhead that could cause impact injuries.

● Creating a journey management plan when taking a new or challenging trip to isolated places, high-security risk places, and inclement weather-prone areas.

● Watching out for others when they are putting themselves and others at risk (e.g., coaching others to watch out for vehicle traffic, directing visitors not to travel under the suspended load, prohibiting the consumption of cough syrup that has expired beyond its good use date, and others).                                                                            

The How – Having the right plan to execute safe work completion is paramount. Job hazard analysis, safe work permits, safe work plans, and other safe work execution plans support safe work by communicating the work to be done, the anticipated/recognized hazards, and the hazard mitigation plans of the ‘how’ to work without injury.

Throughout my 33-year heavy industry career, I have created and used policies, procedures, guidelines, standards, and other safe work guidance documents created for work family members to use as the ‘how’ work shall be completed safely. Very few work family members thoroughly read procedures, guidelines, and standards, especially if they are long. Think about how often you and people close to you have read the operating manual for the vehicle they are driving.

"Safety leaders are the most important element of a maturing and sustained mature safety culture by effectively communicating the ‘What,’ ‘Why,’ and ‘How’ amongst other leadership behaviors."

Thirteen years ago, I was the safety leader for a terminal operations group with 22 marine and land petroleum terminals on the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. My servant leader (Operations Director) would come into my office on a routine basis and ask me what I was doing to keep his work family safe. We would talk about different things depending on the safety performance trends we had identified. One day, he challenged me to turn our most critical safety procedures into a one-page summary for the work-family members to read and use to supplement as a quick reference of the multiple-page (20 – 30) procedures that were in place. I did just that for our critical safety procedures (e.g., Confined Space Entry, Working at Heights, Energy Isolation, Vehicle Operations, and Working Over Water). The one-page summary (The How) in the front of the critical safety procedures detailing the most important steps that needed to be taken to work safely was enthusiastically embraced and used by the work family.

Safety leaders are the most important element of a maturing and sustained mature safety culture by effectively communicating the ‘What,’ ‘Why,’ and ‘How’ among other leadership behaviors.