How can you create a safety culture that empowers employees?

How can you create a safety culture that empowers employees? Based on my experience in implementing safety culture, 1 of key aspects for empowering employees is an EMPOWERED Safety & Health Committee (SHC). The employee reps must play an active role in SHC. They should represent the official voice, the concerns on #safety and #health of the #employees. Hence, the SHC members must be trained and exposed to tools, techniques and ways of achieving top safety culture because SHC is the official channel & medium that advises, assists & monitors the effective implementation of Safety Culture at workplaces. If SHC is NOT effective, then there is very little chance that Safety Culture can be realised.

Lead by example - management demonstrates safe behaviours. Involve staff in developing measurable safety policies and risk assessments. Train thoroughly on hazards, procedures, PPE. Communicate regularly about safety performance against policies. Empower staff to speak up without retaliation. Incentivise meeting safety targets. Discipline consistently for unsafe behaviours. Analyse incidents to improve policies. Survey staff on policy effectiveness. Make safety a collaboration between management and employees. When staff are engaged in creating and meeting measurable policies, a positive safety culture emerges.

When we talk about safety if can be seen with 2 important aspects, one is Physical and next is Technological. 1. Physical safety starts from taking precautionary measures and it can be achieved by providing proper work environment and necessary aids, forming boards or bodies for filing complaints, giving benefits in forms of insurance and other things 2. Technological safety matters a lot to any organization and in can be achieved by assigning multiple training like Compliance, device safety and security, restricting use of confidential information, forming bodies for incident reporting, things like theft or loss of data.

Let me give you a real-life example of how not leading by example affects people's actions and attitudes towards safety. A manager and employee were working in an aisle within a big box store using a pallet jack. Neither were wearing steel-toe shoes even though it was a company requirement. The safety manager called the manager over and said " Jeff, when you allow workers to work unsafe, you may as well stand there with a sign that says USING A PALLET JACK WITHOUT STEEL TOE SHOES IS ACCEPTABLE. When you don't take exception to unsafe work habits, you automatically condone them, to your employee and to any other employees that see you working unsafely with your employee". Managers must take exception to unsafe work habits without exception.

Leadership commitment plays a crucial role. Start at the top. Company leadership, from the CEO down, should demonstrate a strong commitment to safety. Leaders should actively support and participate in safety initiatives, visibly championing safety as a core value. Leadership and management should lead by example by following safety rules and best practices consistently. Holding individuals accountable is also key. Make it clear that safety is everyone's responsibility, and there will be consequences for not adhering to safety policies.

Get leadership commitments to safety and possibly get them to consider safety as a core value. I have worked with companies that have safety as a core value. This is a straight forward commitment portrayal by leadership. Once leadership is committed to this, there is the need to determine where the company lies on a maturity scale. You then Institute a strategy as part of the whole company business strategy with annual objectives and goals to be achieved. Seek shop floor employees buy-in and develop year-on-year as you progress on your maturity scale. Note that development of safety culture to top notch level is not an overnight job. As you progress, you need to measure performance.

I've noticed that organisations with safety as a core value rather than a priority (which can change) foster engaged employees. Building HSE competence in the workforce through training allows workers to have the necessary information and skills to act. Additionally having an effective HSE Committee and HSE Champions throughout the workforce helps sustain a positive safety culture.

Certainly, here's a list of activities where worker involvement can help improve safety culture: 1. Establish safety committees with workers to discuss safety concerns 2. Involve workers in safety inspections & encourage them to identify hazards 3. Hold safety meetings where workers can discuss safety issues, share experiences, & suggest improvements 4. Involve workers in emergency response drills and give them a reasonable role 5. Set up a safety suggestion box for workers to anonymously submit safety ideas 6. Include workers in incident investigations to gather their insights 7. Seek worker input when selecting and evaluating the effectiveness of PPEs 8. Let experienced workers mentor new employees on best safety practices

Foster open communication, encourage reporting of safety concerns, provide comprehensive training, and recognize and reward safety-conscious behavior to create a safety culture that empowers employees.