How to Improve or Enhance Safety Culture
This third article in the series about Safety Culture will explore methodologies and manners for
improving or enhancing an organization’s normative values, beliefs, traditions, and shared assumptions
about safety. After many years of research and solution development for companies all over the world,
the author has developed a series of practices that have been proven to assist organizations with
enhancing their Safety Culture.
As mentioned in previous articles, in order for a company to make profound and meaningful
advances to safety outcomes, it must first work to make fundamental changes in the beliefs and views
about safety with the associates. This can only be accomplished when the true nature of Safety Culture is
understood, when the existing Safety Culture has been evaluated and quantified, and when specific goals
for moving the Safety Culture forward have been undertaken. Once these actions are complete, the
strategies for moving the Safety Culture forward will become more readily apparent. This article will
explore thirteen (13) known strategies that will help most companies move their safety culture forward in
a positive direction. The 13 elements that will be explored are:
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The Critical Role of Management Ownership of the Safety Process
How Front-Line Supervisor Involvement in Workplace Safety is Crucial for Success
Means to Improve Employee Engagement in the Safety Process
The Functionality of the Safety Department
The Effectiveness of Safety Communication
The Importance of Performance Management
The Role of the Formalized Safety Management System
The Ability of the Organization to Identify and Control Risk
The Effectiveness of Incident Investigation and Risk Reporting
The Impact that Workplace Systems have on Safety Culture
The Need for Active Employee Empowerment
The Function of Safety Training and Safety Education
The Relationship Between Safety and Production
MANAGEMENT OWNERSHIP OF SAFETY
The importance of Management Ownership of workplace safety cannot be overstated. Simply
put, Management Ownership of Safety is the most important characteristic of Safety Culture. It is well
known that issues which the upper management and leadership prioritizes as organizational objectives
become important to most stakeholders and employees. Further, business practices that upper
management chooses to formally endorse and reinforce with performance reviews, meetings, discussions,
and other interactions quickly become the organizational norms. Consequently, the impact of ownership
and involvement in safety that organizational leadership takes cannot be understated. The single most
important workplace characteristic that determines whether an organization can achieve strong safety
performance or not is how much emphasis the management group places on safety.
The first step that Senior Leadership must take is to establish a vision of safety for the
organization. This should be in the form of a well-written vision and mission statement for workplace
safety. This statement must be signed by the senior executive within the organization and communicated
to all members and stakeholders within the company. Further, the safety vision and mission statement
must be publically displayed on the company’s website. A discussion of the commitment to workplace
must be included in the company’s annual report. Finally, the message that the only acceptable way to
work is safely must be communicated from all members of the management team. This message must
clearly state that any barriers to safe work practices need to be removed from the organization and that it
is the expectation of the company that associates will not undertake safety before they begin to work, but
rather that employees will only work safely.
It is also crucial for executive performance appraisals to have an element of workplace safety that
is evaluated based process leading indicators. This means that any performance incentives must be
process oriented and not outcome based. Specifically, if management is only evaluated on the number of
injuries, the reduction in worker’s compensation costs, or the decline in lost work days, then pressure may
be created to hide injuries or discourage reporting or treatment. This type of practice can be devastating
to Safety Culture as it necessarily inhibits the identification and remediation of risk due to a lack of
reporting of information. The goals that Senior Leadership sets for the organization, ad that are included
in performance appraisals, must be process-oriented, not outcome based. Examples of process-oriented
goals include establishing a viable behavior-based safety process, completing a certain number of riskreducing projects, creating a formalized Safety Management System, ensuring that corrective actions that
result from incident investigations are completed in a timely manner, and so on.
The final characteristic that Senior Leadership and Upper Management can exhibit in
order to improve workplace safety is a relentless focus to remove blame from the Safety Process and
ensures an ample presentation of positive reinforcement for safe behaviors. This concept aligns closely
with the characteristic of Performance Management, which is another specific strategy that can be
employed to improve and enhance the Safety Culture. Management must be at the forefront of efforts to
help transition the Safety Culture from one based on punishment and accountability to one predicated on
accomplishment and attribution.
One example that demonstrates a high-degree of management ownership of the Safety Process
involves a large multi-national manufacturing organization. This company has an exceedingly low injury
rate with a high degree of management ownership of the safety process. On the rare occasions when an
employee experiences a workplace injury, the employee will be flown, first class, to the company’s
headquarters for a one-on-one meeting with the CEO. During that meeting, the CEO will apologize to the
employee for experiencing an injury while working and will then solicit suggestions from the employee to
keep any similar event from occurring to anyone else in the organization. Clearly, this company is led by
senior leadership that takes a high degree of ownership for safety and the results are World-Class safety
performance. This is also an example of an organization that has completely removed blame from the
equation of Safety Culture and replaced it with a culture that actively cares for its employees.
FRONTLINE SUPERVISOR INVOLVEMENT IN SAFETY
Frontline supervisors, department managers, or other immediate supervisors of employees have a
profound impact on the performance of occupational safety and health in the workplace. Front-line
supervisors are the members of management that employees are most commonly come into contact with
during the workday. Department managers of one of the most challenging jobs in any retail establishment.
They are responsible for everything from sales, to merchandising, to housekeeping, to scheduling, to
fundamental human resources, to loss prevention, and safety. The allocation of resources to each and
every one of these demands falls within the bailiwick of the department manager. In order for an
organization to have a strong safety culture, the department managers must prioritize, model, and support
safe work practices.
Specifically, department managers must ensure that every time an employee makes a decision in
favor of safety, even if it’s at the expense of customer service or any other business demand, that this
decision is fully supported and will not lead to any negative repercussions. Further, it is the role of the
department manager to model safe work practices themselves. If the department manager or front-line
supervisor ever works unsafely, and they will be sending a clear message to their associates that this kind
of behavior is supported and condoned. The supervisor must also be vigilant against creating the
impression that any other consideration in the workplace takes precedence over safety.
Finally, and most importantly, the supervisor must provide appreciative and positive feedback
when their employees follow safe work practices. This feedback will help to establish and solidify a solid
Safety Culture within their work area. This topic will be discussed in much greater detail in the
Performance Management section of this article.
A single unsafe act can result in an outcome that costs an organization tens or hundreds of
thousands of dollars. Supervisors must be cognizant that their role in the workplace is to fully support the
safe work activities of their employees with their actions and their words. In doing so, they can directly
impact the actions of their employees, reduce risk for the entire organization, and contribute to a positive
Safety Culture.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN SAFETY
Full employee engagement in workplace safety is often considered the Holy Grail of safety.
Employee engagement means that associates take ownership for their own actions, the actions of others,
and use their discretionary efforts to make the workplace a safety and more secure environment. Having
employees who take workplace safety personally and are willing to be actively involved in the safety
process provides any organization with a solid foundation on which to build a superior Safety Culture.
Indeed, as was discussed in the previous installment of this three-part series, one of the
foundational aspects of Safety Culture is the perceptions, beliefs, values, and traditions that employees
have with respect for safety. If associates take workplace safety personally then the Safety Culture is
likely to be stronger. If employees are willing to put forth discretionary effort to look out for their own
well-being and the well-being of others, then the impact to the Safety Culture will increase tremendously.
Some examples that illustrate employee engagement in safety include having highly-functioning
employee driven safety committees, utilizing cross-functional accident and incident review boards, and
establishing employee comprised risk-assessment teams.
Under most models of organizational management, one clear tenet is to have a self-directed
workforce. Both research and experience by business professionals has clearly demonstrated that the
most successful organizations are those who have employees who work independently, and diligently,
toward a common goal. The field of workplace safety is no different from any other business practice in
this regard. If employees will work safely, even when they are not under careful scrutiny, it indicates a
stronger Safety Culture. Further, when safe work practices, personal ownership for safety, and a
willingness to do more to improve safety become part of a repeatable pattern of conduct within the
company, then employees clearly have a high degree of engagement in the safety process. Having
associates exhibit the default behavior of ALWAYS making decisions in favor or safety, not because of
external pressures but because of internal values and a belief that their efforts would be fully supported by
the company, then a World Class model of Safety Culture has been established.
FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SAFETY DEPARTMENT
Clearly the functionality and ability of the Safety Department or Loss Prevention Department to
effect a positive influence on the organization plays a focal role in the optimization of the Safety Culture.
Companies who invest in the development of a Safety Professional are known to have stronger Safety
Cultures. This type of investment may include encouraging formal education about the intricacies of
workplace safety by the Safety or Loss Prevention Department, encouraging appropriate certifications, or
allowing participation in local safety organizations such as the American Society of Safety Engineers or
the National Safety Council.
Once a company has committed to having a professional Safety or Loss Prevention Department,
then a means for allowing them to have input and influence within the organization must be established.
Areas where the Safety or Loss Prevention Department can have influence and assist the organization
with improving Safety Culture include the following:
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Conducting sessions of new-hire orientation and new associate training
Being involved in the selection and procurement of new equipment
Working to establish policies and procedures relating to safe work practices
Consulting on disciplinary action which results from associate violation of safety policies
Investigating accidents, incidents and near-miss events and providing recommendations
to management for corrective actions to prevent similar future occurrences
Presenting information regarding trends of safety activities at senior management staff
meetings
Participating as an advisor in an employee-driven safety committee
Ensuring safety is an organizational staff position with close ties to operations, human
resources, and finances
Creating a budgetary line-item for safety related expenditures
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Ensuring that the Safety or Loss Prevention Department has sufficient staffing and
resources to adequately serve the organization
Resisting the temptation to add other duties such as quality, environmental protection, or
other activities which would dilute the safety efforts
Some organizations have been observed selecting employees to take on the role of Safety
Coordinator simply because they had difficulty being successful in other positions. Another, more
deliberate strategy, is to assign the role of safety coordinator or safety manager to an individual who is in
a management development program. The hypothesis behind this action is that as a new manager
develops in their career, they must have experience in all the aspects of business, including safety. Both
of these approaches must be strenuously avoided as they diminish the effectiveness of the safety process
and reduce the perceived importance of workplace safety. If a company truly values the safety, security,
and well-being of its associates, then investing in a full-time Safety Professional or Loss Prevention
Professional clearly is the only acceptable route to take. To do anything else will minimize the
effectiveness of the safety efforts, create a view that safety is a matter of convenience rather than a core
value, and ensure that all actions to improve safety will lack the necessary input of a subject matter
expert.
SAFETY COMMUNICATION
Communication about safety related items is another component of Safety Culture that must be
understood in order to be optimized. Most organizations do a reasonably sufficient job communicating
expectations regarding required adherence to safety policies and programs. However, companies with
higher levels of Safety Culture not only communicate WHAT the expectations are for employee
performance, they also communicate the WHY. For example, if a company adopts a new policy
regarding the handling and transport of merchandise, the reasons motivating the change should be fully
discussed and reviewed with the associates. Simply issuing rules and regulations without communicating
the reasons for changes to the safety process will not help to engage or empower employees and it will
negatively affect the Safety Culture.
In order to elevate the effect that communication has in regard to safety, the company must
consider what information to communicate, how information is communicated, and what impact the
communication has on the organization. Not all safety related information can be disseminated to the
associates. Legal obligations, moral constraints, and an understanding that the information might not help
to improve the safety process all represent excellent reasons for material not to be shared with a larger
audience. For example, if a company conducts a Safety Culture survey and notes a wide range of
perceptions based on different departments within the same store, disseminating this information may be
detrimental as it could create unnecessary competition or a sense of failure by the departments with lower
Safety Cultural scores.
The means of communicating information must be multifaceted and consistent. Few
organizations rely on the outmoded communication tactic of the paycheck stuffer or the posting at the
time clock. Each of these means of communication requires the directed and specific effort on the part of
the employee to read the information. This assumes that the employee would even be motivated to do so
in the first place. Instead, it is wise to use alternate means of communicating information about safety.
Modes such as a well written and often read company newsletter can be beneficial for general
information. However, pertinent or information that is critical to improving the safety and health of the
associates is best covered in in-person meetings with the information coming directly from the employees
immediate supervisor. Alternate means of communication that can also be somewhat effective include
the presentation of information during all store or facility meetings, departmental meetings, or during
performance appraisals. With the ever increasing use of technology many organizations are finding value
using mechanisms such as internal web-based systems (intranet) with areas where employees can share
information regarding risk-reducing strategies.
It must also be remembered that communication must be done in a respectful manner.
Information relating to specific accidents, injuries, or other negative events should never be presented in a
way that can identify the affected individuals. This type of action can be very punishing and should be
avoided. If the organization wishes to use information such as this in a “lessons-learned” format, then it
is critical to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the affected parties.
Finally, the impact of the communication should be regularly and routinely evaluated. If
employees do not perceive that they receive regular updates about the state of safety within the company,
then a reevaluation of communication protocols should be undertaken. Further, if management believes
that they provide a sufficient amount of safety-related communication to employees through numerous
channels, but the employees do not seem to retain the information, then a review of what information is
given and how it is distributed will be vital. Organizations must also be careful about the quality and
quantity of information that is sent out. If general and vague warnings such as “always pay attention” or
“be aware of your surroundings” are the norm, employees will learn that this information is generally
valueless and will not be interested in hearing other safety related topics. This type of response to poorly
crafted safety messages is at the heart of much of the apathy that employees potentially develop toward
workplace safety. Avoidance of apathy can be achieved when meaningful information is disseminated
using several mediums and is packaged in an interesting and engaging manner. When employees feel that
they can identify with the message contained within the safety communication, and they believe that this
information will help them work more safely, then they will be more receptive to the message and the
overall Safety Culture will improve greatly.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Performance Management is defined as the reinforcement of safe behaviors and the coaching and
application of accountability for unsafe or improve behaviors. A well-designed Performance
Management process is foundational to a successful Safety Culture. The two elements of Performance
Management, positive reinforcement and accountability, will be explored independently and their roles in
Safety Culture will be discussed in a joint summation.
Whenever attempting to create or enhance a robust Safety Culture, the use of positive
reinforcement for safe actions and behaviors needs to be a critical consideration. Industrial psychologists
have known for decades that the best way to get repeated patterns of behavior among employees is when
those behaviors are reinforced with positive outcomes. In the case of workplace safety, this means that all
safe work practices must be subjected to positive reinforcement. The best way to accomplish positive
reinforcement for observed safe work practices is through the use of feedback. Simple conversations that
follow safe behaviors can have a profound effect at improving moral, engaging employees, and positively
reinforcing safe behavior. However, in order for feedback to have maximum effect it must be directed
and specific to the act that is being reviewed. Providing employees with a simple “good-job” may seem
like a viable means of communicating appreciation, but clearly pales when compared to a specific
conversation. For example, when an employee takes the time to carefully stack merchandise on a cart for
transport back to a stockroom, or when a receiving associate asks for help moving a large quantity of
boxes, they should each receive recognition that their efforts to work safely are noted and appreciated.
However, if the employee is simply told “good job” they may internalize that they are being recognized
for working hard or quickly. In this example, it is possible to see how unfocused and non-specific
feedback can result in a mixed signal.
To take this thought even further, it is possible to see how associates could receive unintended
positive reinforcement for unsafe work practices. If employees get a job or task completed quickly and
efficiently, they may receive praise or a reward for doing so. However, if the behaviors involved in
completing the task were done in an unsafe manner, the use of the praise could actually be undermining
the safety efforts. Employees who believe that working quickly and productively is the most important
consideration at work may be tempted to cut corners, and are positively reinforced when they do. When a
manager or department supervisor communicates their expectations that all employees must work safely,
and then they ensure to provide ample positive feedback for observed safe behaviors, then these safe
behaviors are significantly more likely to continue. An even more potent approach is for employees to
give one another positive feedback in a formalized system. This approach to safety is called Behavior
Based Safety, and is known to have a profound impact on both organizational Safety Culture and outcome
performance. The implementation of a Behavior Based Safety Process is one way to generate significant
positive momentum to a workplace safety process.
The other aspect of performance management involves accountability. Accountability can be
constructive when it is forward looking and provides instruction for future behavior. Punishment is never
a worthwhile component of any constructive Safety Culture and its use should be reserved for egregiously
intentional acts that violate established policies and procedures. In order to adequately and effectively
apply accountability an organization must have clearly defined policies and procedures that outline
expected performance with safety-critical activities. The formal aspects of the safety program must be
communicated and understood by all associates. When violations of known polices occur it must be
determined if there was an intention to disregard the rules or not. If no intention was present, the failure of
the employee may be due to a knowledge gap which requires training. The failure may also be due to the
employee understanding the policy and making the conscious decision to violate it. Normally though,
unsafe acts by employees occur as a result systemic flaws in the fabric of the workplace. Some of the
systemic issues may include improper staffing so that employees are faced with the choice of working
unsafely or taking care of customers, putting unrealistic pressure on employees to complete a job or task
in a short amount of time, or not providing coaching when employees are occasionally observed working
unsafely. Each of these conditions will create a situation where unsafe acts are more likely to occur.
When these unsafe acts result in an accident or injury, it may be tempting to punish the employee for
violating the rules. In reality, punishment must only be administered when the goal is the removal of the
offending individual. In most cases, unsafe acts warrant coaching and instruction rather than reprimand.
Therefore, performance management is the ready and liberal application of positive reinforcement
whenever safe work practices are observed and the use of coaching and constructive feedback when
unsafe actions are noted. Punishment is reserved for those acts where an intentional disregard for known
safety practices occurs that puts person at risk of injury. Under no circumstances should the use of
punishment considered as effective or efficient as the use of positive reinforcement that is generated from
the application of appreciative feedback.
FORMALIZED SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The formalized elements of the Safety Management System (SMS) include those items that are
specifically developed and implemented to manage the safety process. These elements include, but are
not limited to:
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Safety Policies and Procedures
Incident Investigation Protocols
Job Safety Analysis
Risk Assessment/Risk Reduction Efforts
Safety Training and Safety Education
Pre-Job Planning
Safety Training and Safety Education
The perceived effectiveness of the formal safety and health systems can have a profound impact
on the overall Safety Culture. Specifically, when employees believe that the formal elements of
workplace safety are well designed and well implemented, they will also believe that the Safety Culture is
solid.
In order for the SMS to be highly effective at reducing risk and improving safety performance
there are a few points to consider. As many of the components as possible should be developed with the
collaboration between management and employees. Also, an online tool for managing and integrating the
elements of the SMS can prove useful and act as a significant time saver for the administrator of the
system. Finally, metrics for each element of the SMS should be defined, have levels of successful
implementation established, and tracked on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, etc…) For example, if it is
expected that all employees who work in the receiving department will have annual forklift safety training
completed, the expectation should be made that once the due date has arrived, that all required employees
will have received the needed training. By following the steps listed above, the SMS can significantly
improve the existing Safety Culture and help to reduce injuries and accidents.
RISK IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL
An organization’s ability to identify and control risk makes up another important component of
the Safety Culture. Specifically, when a company can find and remediate risk, the chances of injury
decrease significantly. Associates who believe that their employer has a robust Safety Culture will
consider the willingness of the company to both identify and remediate risks as a key component of these
efforts. It has been noted on numerous surveys of Safety Culture that employees will often note when
unsafe conditions are found and how long it takes the company to fix them. When employees believe that
the company will not immediately correct hazards then they generally have a negative view of the Safety
Culture.
Organizations can improve this aspect of their Safety Culture by immediately addressing hazards
that can be fixed in an expeditious manner, creating plans to remediate hazards that will require more
time, establishing funding for any capital expenditures that must be undertaken, and communicating all
plans with the affected employees. When people know that their concerns are being addressed, they will
have a favorable view of the Safety Culture and will be much more willing to report risks and participate
in the solutions.
REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION
Employee’s ability to report risk and their willingness to do so is one of the primary sources of
information that companies have about hazards. When employees are unwilling to report risk, near
misses, minor injuries, and other events, the company has an ongoing source of data that can be used to
create risk reduction strategies. The input from employees regarding these events is crucial. Further, if
employees are unwilling to report for fear of getting blamed or being punished, then they will likely be
less engaged in workplace safety and will take less ownership for the safety process. This lack of
engagement will lead to lower overall Safety Culture scores and can negatively impact other aspects of
business such as production, customer services, quality of work, and retention of employees.
The importance of removing blame from workplace safety is of paramount concern to companies
that are trying to improve their Safety Cultures. The use of blame in safety is a characteristic of very
traditional workplace safety systems. In these systems if an employee experiences an injury or incident,
they are usually blamed for their actions, may be held accountable or punished, and will generally refrain
from reporting events again in the future. Using blame also allows a company to take the easy way out
from having to address the true issues that drive risk or create unsafe conditions. Essentially, blaming an
employee for working unsafely, without examining the systems of the workplace for the upstream causal
factors that led to the unsafe act, ensures that no elements of the workplace will change to reducing risk or
fix the true drivers of the hazards. For example, if an employee is injured while cutting open a box and is
subsequently written-up for using a non-approved box-cutter, the employer never needs to find out why
the employee used a non-approved tool, how the lack of longevity viable use for the approved tool could
be a factor, or that the training program where employees are educated about how to properly cut open
boxes is deficient. All of these systemic causes of risk could have contributed to the injury, but due to a
lack of using a systems based approach to safety, and by blaming the employees, they will not be
discovered and will remain as residual risk that could potentially lead to injuries for other employees.
To enhance reporting and investigation, stores must ensure that employees are comfortable
reporting all injuries, no matter how minor. They must also make certain that investigations into injuries
to do not focus on assigning blame or accountability. If needed, these actions can be taken later, but
should be limited to those cases where employees clearly knew that they were violating a policy and had
the intention of putting themselves or others in harm’s way. The application of blame in the safety
process will always lead to the hiding of injuries and will ensure that the Safety Culture never achieves
World-Class status.
WORKPLACE SYSTEMS
Workplace systems are defined as those elements of the workplace that are not specifically
designed to have an impact on safety but are obviously very important to the safety performance of any
place of work. Workplace systems that impact safety include such component as housekeeping,
preventative maintenance, workflow and product distribution, and staffing levels. Although these
elements are not established specifically for workplace safety, their impact on safety, and safety culture is
undeniable.
Specifically, if a store has poor housekeeping the likelihood of slip, trip, and falls for both
associates and customers increases significantly. If a store has poor staffing levels then both customer
service and safety can be negatively impacted. Employees are tempted to lift more and are less likely to
seek help if they are working alone during a busy time. If employees work with equipment such as
cardboard bailers, trash compactors, forklifts, or other large pieces of moving equipment that are not well
maintained or are not subject to routine preventative maintenance, then the chances of equipment failure
leading to accidents or injuries increases substantially.
Clearly, ensuring that a workplace has solid systems is crucial to ensuring efficiency,
effectiveness, customer service and safety. When any one major workplace system is neglected, all of
them can suffer. Although none of these activities are designed to directly impact safety, their influence
over safety performance is undeniable. The value of understanding the role of workplace systems on
safety performance is of considerable importance for every Loss Prevention Professional.
EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT
When employees are empowered they believe that they have the ability to meaningfully
contribute to the success of safety in the workplace. This concept is the polar opposite of “Employee
Engagement” as employee engagement describes the willingness of employees to make a difference to the
safety process. Employee empowerment evaluates the ability that employees have to contribute to the
safety of the workplace in a manner that makes a real and profound difference.
Employee empowerment operates in concert with “Employee Engagement”. Specifically, when
associates are motivated to make a difference in workplace safety (Engagement) and they believe that
they can do so and that their contributions will be welcomed (Empowerment) then the optimum condition
can be reached. It is crucial for organizations to work diligently to engage employees. With respect to
workplace safety, it is generally accepted that those closest to the risk of injury, the associates, know the
most about the risk and often have insight into how injuries can be prevented and risk mitigated. By
actively seeking to engage associates, companies are capitalizing on their greatest sources of information
and knowledge. Further, when employees are actively engaged in the Safety Process they will take a
much greater degree of ownership for any risk-reducing solutions that they develop.
The association between employee engagement and employee empowerment is cyclical and
relational. Engaged employees are much more likely to offer suggestions and participate in activities
relating to improving the level of workplace safety. If these efforts are rewarded by an employer who
implements suggestions, ideas, and strategies created by the employees, then the employees will take
even greater ownership for workplace safety.
It is strongly recommended that companies actively seek reasons TO implement employee
suggestions rather than trying to find reasons why proposals will not work. The degree of ownership that
workers take when the ideas that they are supporting are their own, or peer generated, is significantly
higher than the ownership that they take for procedures and policies mandated by the establishment. The
role that properly empowering employees has on the Safety Culture is profound, long-lasting, and very
self-sustaining. There are very few downsides when it comes to ensuring that employees have every
opportunity to make meaningful contributions to workplace safety.
SAFETY TRAINING, EDUCATION AND FLUENCY
The importance of Safety Training, Education, and Fluency should be readily apparent. If
employees do not have the knowledge to work safely, then the Safety Culture will be greatly impaired.
The effectiveness that companies have imparting knowledge about risks, hazards, and work practices is
directly proportional to the performance of associates when it comes to safety-related behavior. If
employees do not have the knowledge of risks and safe work practices, it will be functionally impossible
for them to work safely.
For our purposes fluency is defined as having an ability to work in an automatic or habitual
manner. Fluency is the presence of a broad-based level of knowledge that is supported by familiarity of
efforts. Aubrey Daniels mentioned in a 2010 blog posting that fluency is critical because when
companies fail to educate employees to a fluent level it they will spend more time and effort later on. He
states “Spend the time and money to train people to fluency: One of the most costly mistakes companies
make is to put people in jobs before they are fluent in the critical aspects of the job. The amount of
repetition required for fluency is far more than the average trainer understands, but the extra time pays
off in happier customers and more confident and competent employees.” Obviously, within the context
of safety, when employees achieve fluent performance relating to safe work practices they will greatly
reduce their risks of injury. Further, employees who are fluent in safety are more likely to be comfortable
giving feedback to peers, coaching peers on safe work practices, and taking a high level of ownership for
the safety process.
Ensuring that employees have the appropriate degree of knowledge, skills, and ability to work
safely has a direct impact on the Safety Culture. Conversely, if an organization does not spend the time
and resources to adequately educate employees, it is clearly symptomatic of dysfunctional workplace
systems that places emphasis on short-term objectives and the expense of long-term outcomes.
SAFETY VS. PRODUCTION
Safety versus Production describes the relationship between how production demands are
perceived compared with working safely. Specifically, this category explores the relationship of safety to
production to discover the scope of subordination that safety has to production or the level of integration
that safety has with productive work.
When a healthy balance is achieved associates will no longer have to do safety and then do their
work, they will simply work safely. In situations where a healthy balance between production and safety
are created it is generally facilitated by supervisors who prioritize safety and ensure that working safely is
the only acceptable norm.
Companies that prioritize a stability of the relationship to safety and
productive work demonstrate this through the behaviors exhibited by management, supervisors and
employees.
When safety is viewed as an inhibition or a hindrance to productive work, the organization faces
greatly elevated risk and a much higher chance for workplace injury. Organizational deficiencies in this
category are among the most difficult to overcome. This is due to the common perspective that
workplace production is the most crucial organizational value and that this value is often strongly
supported and typically exists at the very core of many cultural norms. Further, employees are routinely
given positive reinforcement for working productively even if it is at the expense of being safe.
Although this creates a situation where the Safety Culture can be seriously impacted, it is typically not
done intentionally as management is generally just trying to reward employees for being dedicated and
hard-working. Unfortunately, but not realizing that employees may have worked unsafely while they
were being productive creates a situation actually receive appreciative feedback for unsafe behavior.
Ensuring that feedback is directed and specific, and making certain that employees who work safely
receive ample appreciative feedback, will help restore or maintain a healthy perspective regarding the
relationship of production to safety.
It is not possible to understate the importance of Safety Culture in the retail working environment.
Safety Culture acts as a very powerful antecedent and consequence for employee behavior with respect to
working safely. In order to maximize the Return on Investment (ROI) for resources that are expended on
safety, organizations must ensure they understand the normative values, traditions, beliefs and views of
safety that drive associate actions. Once the Safety Culture is evaluated and understood it can be
enhanced and improved.
In this series of articles, the author has endeavored to provide a comprehensive discussion of the
key aspects of Safety Culture. We reviewed the common definitions of what Safety Culture is, how it
functions to help companies develop validated leading indicators, and serves to create a model of
continuous safety improvement. We also discussed how you can evaluate an existing Safety Culture and
establish a quantified measure to rank and rate various elements. Finally, we explored how Safety
Culture can be enhanced and improved by understanding thirteen key attributes.
Hopefully, this comprehensive review of Safety Culture has provided useful information. The
goal for the reader should be to see how the material can help make their organization safer by
capitalizing on the knowledge from these articles. However, the reader should also do their own research
and ensure that any actions to improve Safety Culture are customized exactly to their company’s working
environment. Safety Culture is a powerful component of the overall safety management system and
understanding its intricacies and taking full advantage of all it offers must be the consideration of every
Loss Prevention Person.