Creating a Safety Culture on the Jobsite
Creating a stronger safety culture takes time.
- By David Ward
- Dec 01, 2022
Ask any company if they have a safety culture and the answer is probably yes. Ask them how they define a safety culture and you’re likely to get different answers. Some may point to KPIs that show how many days have passed since the last incident. Others will tout a spotless safety record and zero OSHA violations.
While data points are possible outcomes of prioritizing safety, they don’t reflect a true safety culture. A safety culture is a combination of protocols and processes as well as a mindset that embraces and prioritizes the safety of everybody in the workplace.
Building a safety culture is similar to building a quality culture. In fact, the challenge is very similar to “zero defects” in manufacturing. And as you cannot “test in quality” after a product is built, you cannot “inspect in safety” to a process. In both cases, safety is not solely the job of a safety officer. Rather, it’s the responsibility of the entire organization.
Safety Culture is Changing
For years, safety culture has followed the principles of behavior-based safety, which is a proactive approach to increasing safe behavior by focusing on reducing hazards, risks and incidents. This is primarily accomplished by observing the work environment, behaviors of workers in that environment, analyzing the consequences of their actions and providing proper reinforcement of a desired behavior to prevent accidents. Examples include checking if the jobsite is clear of obstructions, making sure there’s enough PPE for the entire crew and verifying worker attendance at safety talks.
While behavior-based safety is still widely practiced, some safety experts believe it’s time for it to evolve. Some safety experts believe safety management is long overdue for innovation. Instead of focusing on finding faults with safety culture or policies, safety managers need to weave safety protocols into all construction process participants.
According to safety expert Rod Courtney, author of the recently published, “The Eight Habits of a Highly Effective Safety Culture,” and HSE Director at Ampirical Solutions, “a safety culture is rooted in what employees do when nobody is watching.”
Jon Broyles, corporate safety officer at AMG & Associates, also believes the safety industry is changing. According to Broyles, “The safety industry is growing by huge leaps and bounds and is seeing some of its biggest movements toward safety culture.”
This article originally appeared in the December 1, 2022 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.