By K C Pawling, Road Safety and Loss Prevention Specialist
I was doing a little research to write this article, and I looked up the definition of culture. The interweb was just ripe with all kinds of definitions. One definition I found was: “the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that a group of people accept, generally without thinking about them.”
Some of you that know me well, know that I could not just leave it there. Something so simple I had to dig a little bit deeper and make it a little more complex, just for grins and giggles. With this, I found something that really resonated with me. I will try to keep this relatively short, so I don’t lose any more of you than I already have. I found the theory of cultural determinism . . . now stay with me. The two theories that struck a nerve were: The optimistic version believes that a human being can choose the ways of life they prefer. The negative version maintains that people are what they are conditioned to be; this is something they have no control over, and they are passive creatures that do whatever their culture tells them to do.
Applying this theory to my experiences in road departments, I will say there is probably a mix of the positive and negative versions. The important question is, what is your department’s safety culture? Are you managing safety in your workplace OR are circumstances managing you?
OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program instructs that developing a positive safety culture has the single greatest impact on accident reduction. For this single reason, developing a positive safety culture should be a top priority for all managers at every level, including the county board. The following are seven keys to an effective safety culture.
- The entire workforce pursues the identification and remediation of hazards.
- Correcting hazards and having good communication about them will create a safer workplace and will improve employees’ involvement.
- All employees are comfortable stopping each other when risky behavior is observed. This is employees at all levels, from managers to those not overseeing other employees.
- This is essential for building safe work habits. The more involved all levels of the department are, the stronger the culture will be.
- No one is blamed for near misses or incidents.
- Pursue systemic causes, are there organizational systems that encourage at-risk behavior? Uncover and make changes to the systems or practices to encourage safe behavior.
- Discipline has a place, but most safety incidents can be effectively dealt with without discipline
- The fear of discipline drives under-reporting and discourages involvement has driven the positive out of the culture. Give the opportunity to learn from mistakes, but if the practice seems to be repetitive that’s when it should be dealt with in a different manner.
- Your workforce has good relationships at all levels.
- Employees that have good working relationships with management will be more likely to be honest about what is working and what needs to be changed. Trust is what we are looking for.
- Safety should be part of the day-to-day operation.
- Safety should not be something separate and only discussed at safety meetings, but part of every conversation and considered in every decision.
- Successes should be celebrated along the way.
- The focus shouldn’t be on a safety record, but it should be on what is being done every day, all day, to result in a positive record.
- Targeted positive reinforcement of desired behaviors can lead to rapid change. Generally, effects will multiply as employees begin to practice desired behaviors and they will reinforce the same behaviors in others.
So, in closing, do you have an optimistic or negative perspective of your safety culture? Are you going to choose to happen to life, your life, or are you going to let life happen to you? What can you do today to improve the conditions of your life, and in this case, your safety and well-being? Start by encouraging your fellow employees with the optimistic version of cultural determinism, those with the negative version will come around.
If you have any safety training needs or questions about this article or other road or work safety-related subjects, you can reach me at kcpawling@nirma.info or 402-310-4417. My office number is 402-742-9236. Let’s make sure everyone makes it home tonight.
