Building Your

Safety Culture

Paul J. Miller, CSP

Risk Consultant
What is Culture?
 CULTURE
The atmosphere, an invisible force or
“way of working” within a company that
shapes behavior. A culture consists of
shared beliefs, practices and attitudes.
 Safety Culture
 Management and Employee Attitude
 Policies and Procedures

 Supervisor Responsibility and Accountability

 Safety Planning and Goals

 Actions in Response to Safe & Unsafe Behavior

 Employee Training and Motivation

 Employee Involvement or “Buy-in”

 Safety as a value, not a priority.

 Culture

Creating a Safety
 Safety is an integral part of
operations – It’s a Value
 Management Commitment

Culture Accountability
 Employee Commitment

 Measurements
 Performance Appraisals
 Charge Back of Costs
Commitment

Top Mgmt. Support

 Safety Director
 Accident Investigation
 Training

Recognition
 Inspections
 Safety Committees
 Incentive Programs

Awareness
 Safety Posters
 Safety Handouts
 Warning Signs

Time
Obstacles to Cultural Change
Super Motivated, movers and shakers

Go along with the flow

Citizens
Against
Virtually
Everything
15% 70% 15%
Moral/Ethical Implications
Fatalities
 Family

 Friends

Safe work practices

needs to be a value and
should be a core
principle.
 Legal Implications
 Company
Liability
 Individual
Liability
 Fines
 Jail

Under section 17(e) of the OSHA Act

 Recognition and Investigation
 Behaviors are
recognizable
actions which
can be observed.

 Behaviors are
either proper or
improper
depending on
circumstances.
 Behavior Triangle
Balanced Unbalanced
Balanced Triangle
Triangle
Triangle
ge

Knowledge
l ed

Sk
Sk

ill
ow

ill
Kn

Desire Desire
 Consequence-Feedback Model
Impact on Behavior Type of Consequence
Strongest Soon Certain Positive
Strong Late Certain Positive
Soon Uncertain Positive
Soon Certain Negative
Weak Late Uncertain Positive
Soon Uncertain Negative
Late Certain Negative
Weakest Late Uncertain Negative
 Rewards Shape Behavior
Positive
I’ll do that
Consequence
(Reward) again!
Behavior
or Action
Negative
Consequence I’m not
(Punishment) doing that
again!
What are your key behaviors?
Major Areas
 Material Handling
 Tool usage
 Working at height
 Work area set-up
 Walking/working
surfaces
 Injuries since 5/1/2010
 Fall from Scaffold (3) - $174,173
 Manual Material Handling (9) - $33,750

 Slip/Trip (7) - $4,816

 Erecting/Dismantling Scaffold (3) - $3,024

 Repetitive Motion (2) - $27,385

 “Struck By” (7) - $1,791

The Incident Pyramid
Fatality
1
29 Severe Injury

300 Minor Injury

2,000 Near Miss

20,000
Unsafe Acts
STRESS
 Education and Motivation
 What is the
extent of your
new employee
orientation?
 How is safety
communicated?
 What is
covered?
 Do they
understand the
“Big Picture”?
 How do you train?
 Reading Handout Literature (10%)
 Watching Videotapes (30%)

 Watching a Presentation (50%)

 Participating in a Discussion (70%)

 Doing the Real Thing (90%)

The Training Sequence

 Tell Them
 Show them

 Have Them Do It

 Follow up
 Leadership
The art of accomplishing change through people.

Be a leader - Set a personal example for safe

behavior and communicate your expectations
regarding safety.
Responsibility Vs. Accountability

 Someone is accountable when their performance

is measured in relation to goals or standards.
 When someone is responsible, their performance
is not necessarily measured.

“To assign responsibility without also

assigning accountability is safety’s greatest
failing.”
Dan Peterson
 Accountability

 Goals

 Charge Backs
 Activities
Three Steps to Accountability

3. REWARD
1. DEFINE

2. MEASURE
“What Gets Measured
Gets Done”
 DISCIPLINE
Discipline is not the first and only option, but
constructive discipline is one method to modify
behavior.
 Verbal Warning

 Written Warning

 Suspension

 Termination
 Use Incentives With Care!
 Rewarding large groups of people for meeting goals
might be rewarding some of them for working
unsafely.
 To effectively change behavior, the rewards must
always follow a safe act and at risk behavior must
be corrected at the time of the observation.
Positive immediate feedback = behavior change
What’s In It for Me? More
Opportunity More Satisfied
Fewer Injuries Customers
Profit

Reduced Greater
Medical/ Productivity
Insurance ENHANCED
Cost CULTURE Increased
Efficiency
Lower
Overhead
Improved
Quality
Better Equipment
Better Pay/Benefits Motivated
Employees
Brainstorming Session