Developing a World Class Safety Culture



Posted: Friday, August 31, 2007

by Ronald Hallmark
HSE Solutions, Inc.

Introduction

After 25 years working as an Safety professional around the globe, this author has struggled with the idea that Safety could be institutionalized into an organization. After working in a variety of countries on 4 different continents and having successfully institutionalized Safety, I am convinced that institutionalization of Safety is possible and achievable at any site which follow the principles outlined in this article. For the purpose of this article, I am using the word "Safety" which is interchangable with Safety (health, safety and environment).

Institutionalization of Safety-Defined

The simple definition of institutionalized Safety is when a company has embedded Safety into the way the company does business, e.g., Safety becomes as normal a routine as production and maintenance. It begins as a concept, which might be loosely defined as a mixture of culture and adopted norms of behaviour. It is a learned behaviour which over time becomes company culture. Institutionalization must be seeded and embedded and will not develop on its own. In short, it is a concept put into action through behavioural modification over time. When fully developed, Safety becomes such a norm that it is no longer considered as a separate task from production or other operations.

Eight (8) Distinct Characteristics of an Institutionalized Organization

This authors experience has shown that organizations which successfully institutionalize Safety have 8 distinct characteristics:

A. Have good knowledge of Safety:

Everyone in the organisation from the Chief Executive to the shop floor laborer has knowledge of Safety concepts and principles with an emphasis on hazard identification and consequences. Getting to this point means that Safety training has to become part of the corporate training plan. Safety workshops or seminars would be planned and scheduled based upon perceived risks. Everyone from the CEO to the janitor is part of a training program based upon risk and their ability to control them.

Real Example: This author was conducting an Safety audit in a Middle Eastern desert oil field when a tea boy brought the tea tray to the auditors. The author asked the tea boy if he knew what Safety meant. He immediately replied, yes sir, it means I know the hazards of my job and what I need to do to prevent them from harming me. This tea boy exemplified institutionalization of Safety.

B. Set Challenging Safety goals and objectives:

Companies set challenging but meaningful Safety targets along with production targets. These targets/objectives play a role in job appraisal and bonus pay. As with the training plan, everyone understands their role in achieving specific Safety targets. The old clich that what gets measured gets done is as true as ever. This means that managers set both general and specific targets and goals and measure results usually achieve them. For example a senior manager agrees Safety performance targets and then sets tangible work objectives to achieve these targets. Targets and objectives are achieved with written and endorsed plans. The shop worker and contractor level work with their line supervisors to agree their Safety targets including exactly what the crew can actively do to achieve the results.

Real Example: In the Asia sub-continent, an oil company chief executive set targets for himself which included site visits and audits, as well as setting goals for leading Safety workshops and shop talks. Of course, he also agreed to set plans in place to correct gaps found by independent auditors. This asset turned around safety in 18 months from bottom to top quartile.

C. Transparent Communication of Safety:

Transparent communication is a norm and includes feed-back from a cross section of the company on a routine basis. A variety of feed-back mechanisms are used but among the best are opinion surveys. The surveys are conducted by an outside party with absolute privacy and confidentiality. The results are usually conducted as part of a corporate survey which includes all aspects of the organization culture and style. Setting Safety aside for a separate attitude survey just perpetuates the misconception that Safety is something different or an add-on to the job. A company having Safety problems might receive warnings via negative survey responses which indicate hostile perceptions toward Safety. For example, a survey could indicate that workers believe their supervisors ignore safety/Safety regulations and allow or even encourage the workers to take risks. A progressive company sees this as a serious problem since it is irrelevant whether the supervisor really ignores Safety or not. The most important issue here revolves around the fact that the workers perceive it to be true. These surveys serve as a gauge of the Safety climate and will only turn positive based upon actions of management and their supervisors over time. Generally a survey is conducted before a company initiates efforts to institutionalize Safety. The survey with similar questions is then conducted annually to measure progress. These surveys become part of an overall corporate attitude survey. In companies who have achieved institutionalization of Safety, the annual survey can monitor and Safety assess attitudes such as, Does your supervisor set an example for safety/Safety? or Does the company through its action show it really believes in Safety/safety performance?

Real Example: This author witnessed dramatic turn-around in the results of several attitude surveys. In one case, the Safety attitude responses changed from 70% negative to 85% positive in one year while the accident rate improved by inverse proportions, i.e., improvement of 75%. There is almost always a direct correlation between positive attitude and Safety results.

D. Safety Involvement at all levels:

Safety activities are diffused from the top to bottom, so that everyone has a role to play in Safety. This is developed in the Safety plan which starts as corporate Safety goals and objectives and is diffused downward from the board room to the work site with each layer of management/supervision playing a role.

Real Example: In an un-named country in the Middle East there was competition between the various field sites for the Safety Award for Excellence. Invariably, the winner was the asset that had the most Safety involvement from top to bottom. They set high standards, goals, and objectives for Safety.

E. Regular Commending and Correcting of Safety:

Commending/correcting of Safety performance is common place. Praise for achieving production targets is commonplace and is commonly expressed by one-on-one praise from the supervisor to the worker. Rewards may also be expressed through monetary bonuses, letters of recognition, work-place parties, off-site dinners etc. The key here is that the recognition fit the local culture. Some cultures like social recognition, others prefer money or even gifts.

Real Example: In South America, the author found that rewards which were given soon after Safety success was extremely well received and had lasting impact on the recipient. For example, rewards to Safety local staff varied from cash awards to a pat on the back or a letter of commendation. In the oil fields, laborers appreciated free telephone cards and associated them with good safety performance.

F. The Majority views Safety as an integral part of their daily job .

A sure sign that a company is moving toward or has already reached institutionalization is when most workers believe that Safety is an integral part of their daily routine and not a separate add-on activity. Supervisory walk around audits such as SAA (Spot Activity Audit) developed by this author is a good way to ensure that Safety is integrated into the daily routine. This audit uses feed-back from employees to their supervisors to instil and reinforce the right way to do the job every time. Supervisors communicate in a positive manner and encourage workers to perform the job in the right and safe manner. These techniques also result in improved productivity and morale. Other systems besides SAA may be utilized as long as the supervisor takes time to converse with employee in a positive manner concerning performance of the workers task.

Real Example: This author has enjoyed performing dozens of positive SAAs. This means that the worker being audited has performed his task in an exemplary manner and was deserving of commendation. Experience has shown that positive SAA awards occur only about 5% of the time at the start up of SAA but increases to 10-15% after SAA implementation.

G. Company has achieved top quartile Safety performance

Although this seems obvious, top quartile performance does not happen easily or overnight.

Real Example: This author has seen assets on 3 separate continents move from bottom quartile to top quartile performance in approximately 18 months by using the techniques listed in this paper. The minimum improvement in safety was 50% over this period.

Steps To Getting There

Experience has shown that 12 steps must be engaged in order to achieve institutionalization. They are:

  • Senior management Safety commitment .

    • This is by far the most important step in achieving institutionalization of Safety. This also may be the most difficult step. This authors experience has shown that management commitment usual revolves around 3 key issues: a) Safety success means brand success, b) Safety success adds income and profitability, or c) Safety failure means loss of reputation and therefore legal costs and lost profitability. Many senior managers believe that it is important for their company to be viewed as green which translates in management speak as an environmental friendly company. In recent years, the environmental cause has merged with safety and health and thus Safety is now generally viewed favourably by most large corporate entities. Many times a corporation will establish a high level position such as VP-Safety, where he/she has responsibility for establishing and overseeing Safety standards and practice for the corporation. This person has the ability to influence senior management through persuasive arguments which justify Safety status being equal to operations.

  • Develop a sound Safety Management System .

    • A company must have a sound set of Safety standards since an Safety management system serves as the guidepost to what gets done. When developing an Safety Management system, dont re-invent the wheel. Successful systems may be found among the top Fortune 500 companies. Most will gladly share with you. Start by contacting industry associations such as OGI (Oil & Gas Producers Institute). The ASSE via its web site also has a variety of publications available for purchase which outline successful Safety and Safety Management systems. Upon evaluation you will find that the varied Safety systems contain similar categories and elements although they may be listed and organized differently. This author prefers systems which categorize the Safety requirements by topic. For example, Management leadership, auditing and inspections, contractor management, risk management are all topics (elements) where expectations can be attached. An expectation is what generally is required to be done to meet the general intent of the element. Usually a list of processes is attached to each expectation. A process is defined as an activity the company plans and undertakes in order to achieve the expectation. An example would be: Element Auditing & Inspections, Expectation The company will have an Safety auditing & inspection program which identifies hazards and conformance with established procedures as well as proposes corrective actions, Process(es): Annual Safety Audit/Inspection Plan. There may be several processes which implement the same expectation. Many times a single process will apply to more than one expectation. In the example listed, the Annual Safety audit plan (a process) will also affect expectations related to risk management, senior management, contractor management etc.

  • Implement for the long term .

    • That means setting annual targets for all levels of the organization as well as 5 year goals for the company at large. Safety targets must be rolled into the corporate planning process so that Safety targets are decided in same arena of discussion as are the financial and production targets. Annual Safety plans should be developed which outline the expected goals as well as targets for every level of the organization. The continuity of seeing Safety targets every year along side the production and financial targets sends a vital message that Safety is viewed by senior management in the highest regard.

  • Set fit for purpose Safety targets

    • I can not emphasize enough the old adage that what gets measured gets done. Safety targets must be set which adequately challenge the workforce and supervision. The targets must also be fit for purpose, which means the targets must be realistic and are proportional to the industry, level of mechanisation, culture and the over risks involved. If not, the targets may be considered irrelevant and ignored. An example of an irrelevant target might be the requirements for extensive (several sessions) of training for hazards which dont normally exist in the workplace.

  • Manage Change

    • Most change is resisted within organizations. Change of culture is extremely difficult and will be resisted. The first step to initiating change is having senior management on board both in action and words. The message from the top when presented in a forthright convincing manner directly and immediately affects actions of subordinates. This action by the lower management and supervisor is many times viewed with suspicion by the workforce since they have seen changes which were no more than a flash in the pan or as this author has heard many times, the flavour of the month. Only through consistent support and reinforcement over time will Safety will taken seriously by the lower rung of supervision and their workforce.

  • Diffuse Safety

    • Diffusion refers to assigning Safety duties at every level of the organization so that Safety is planned/managed within all realms of responsibility. For example, the senior management team may approve the general Safety plan for the company. They may also have agreed tasks to perform such as reviewing Safety performance during regular board meetings. Individual senior management may even have an occasional Safety site visit listed as part of their annual Safety task plan. Going down the line, each level will review and decide what tasks they would be involved in. For example, an operational manager may conduct Safety meetings with his divisional managers. Again Safety responsibility flows all the way down to the first line supervisor who in reality has the most impact on Safety.

  • Ensure maximum involvement of workforce .

    • The success of Safety institutionalization is directly proportional to the amount and intensity of the workforce involvement. This may mean use of safety committees, designated safety/Safety reps, and periodic Safety open forum meetings. The more that the workforce has a voice in Safety planning and participation in Safety activities, the easier it will be to institutionalize Safety.

  • Communicate, Communicate

    • Josef Stalin was attributed as saying if one tells a lie enough times, people will believe it. Well this is only partially true. Lies can not stick when people can see actions which do not match the words. However, people will believe the message when it is reinforced by the validity of actions which match the words . Without saying, consistency of actions is critical to institutionalization of Safety.

    Communication of Safety must be embedded as part of regular briefings to the stakeholders, e.g., shareholders, partners, labor unions, NGOs, government regulator agencies or employee associations. Regular open communication meetings should always include a statement regarding Safety. All management meetings should have as a minimum a summary of Safety progress

  • Promote Supervisory Safety performance

    • Programs must be set in place to do this. This author stated earlier in this article that what gets measured gets done. Well this again is only partially true. In reality what gets measured and rewarded or punished gets done. Targets, goals, objective are meaningless unless backed up by reward or punishment mechanism. Let a supervisor get by with conducting only 50% of his required inspections with no feed-back from his superiors and soon he will be doing even less with less fervour. The impact on his workers will be more dramatic as they see Safety inspections taking a back seat to production goals. The implication is clear to the workers. However, a supervisor who takes the Safety message to heart should be commended and rewarded. His efforts will most certainly be seen by the workers as a sign that Safety is really important to senior management. Workers understand that the important messages flow from the top and those important and meaningful messages are followed up with actions. This author has seen many instances where senior management was fully engaged and behind Safety but the message never made it to the bottom because some managers failed to reward/punish their subordinates for Safety performance. This means that HR policy must be devised so that supervisors understand that job appraisals, bonuses, future advancement all depend upon good Safety performance and that poor Safety means no rewards or advancement.

  • Base Safety training on risk

    • Training can not be under estimated as a vital link to Safety success. The training must start at the top. Too often senior management hears of the need of Safety implementation and believes that this is a lower level issue which should not involve much if any of their valuable time. This could not be further from the truth. Senior management must have knowledge of the costs of not having Safety success and the penalty for failure. They must be informed of the positive aspects from the financial to altruistic gains. It is the authors experience that senior management upon gaining this knowledge, enthusiastically endorse their roles in promoting Safety.

  • Develop Safety behavioural schemes

    • An underestimated aspect of Safety is that workers do really appreciate and desire rewards for good Safety behaviour. Different industries and different cultures appreciate different rewards. This author has found that some workers like monetary reward, while others prefer recognition amongst their peers. Behavioural scientists note that recognition along with some reward reaps the most advantage. This might include a name and photo on the bulletin board along with a small gift or recognition at a dinner or even a letter from a senior manager sent to an employees home.

  • Improvements are realistic .

    • Even when Safety systems are in place and targets are met or exceeded, new and challenging targets must be set. This does not mean setting unrealistic targets or continuously lowering the bar for Safety performance. It does mean that one should constantly evaluate the risks which presently challenge the company. For example, safety and environmental performance may be in the top quartile while health performance has several challenges. New governmental regulations or new advances in science may all present challenges. The best way to develop new targets and objectives is through the quarterly risk evaluation process which many companies do as a matter of routine. This involves groups of managers conducting risk brainstorming sessions where business risks (which include Safety) are plotted on a risk matrix. The risks can be rated as per severity, likelihood to occur, potential affect on the business, and ease to manage. The highest identified risks which are the most difficult to manage are highlighted for extra effort and emphasis.

    Summary

    Any company can institutionalize Safety if they are willing to persevere over time utilizing the advice presented herein. One reason safety/Safety has had such difficulty in meeting corporate targets is that Safety has been generally treated as an added cost or burden with little perceived benefit for the company. This author has seen dramatic improvement in company business/worker compensation losses, as well as improvements in productivity and morale which translated into financial rewards in subsequent years. The first step and critical step toward achieving institutionalization is for someone with authority to become the cheerleader for Safety and take this message to senior management. Safety will not evolve from the bottom up. It always progresses from the top down. A realistic and workable plan must be developed and presented to senior management which illustrates that Safety can not be an overnight success but will take their time and dedication to succeed. This author believes the outline presented in the paper can be a basis for the start toward institutionalization of Safety.

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