The Foundations of Effective Safety Cultures

‍High-risk industries require a unique and proactive approach to managing safe behaviors and promoting a positive safety culture.

With the potential for severe consequences, organizations must take a proactive stance to ensure the safety and well-being of their workers. Organizations can create a safe and secure environment for their employees by implementing the following strategies.

Anticipating and Planning for At-Risk Work Conditions

 Proactive employers identify the at-risk behaviors and the conditions their workforce face so that mitigation strategies are developed. While every organization and industry will have different at-risk behaviors, a few are more common across industries. These include:

• Substance abuse. Substance abuse is an issue that many organizations must tackle, particularly those in industries with a higher risk of injuries, such as construction and manufacturing. Employers must ensure their employees are free from substances that could impair their judgment and lead to dangerous situations.
• Fatigue can be an issue in industries where employees work long or irregular hours. This can be particularly dangerous for construction, healthcare, and transportation workers. Employers need to be aware of the hazards of fatigue and take steps to ensure that their employees are adequately rested and ready to safely perform their job duties.
• Many people in high-risk industries experience stress as a regular part of their job. However, high stress for sustained periods can lead to burnout, which harms productivity and worker well-being. And at an alarming rate in some industries like energy production and construction. Employers that identify mental health stressors and adjust the workplace to lessen or eliminate their impacts save their human and financial resources.

Developing a Training and Education Plan

 One of the best strategies for dealing with at-risk behaviors is to provide practical and thorough employee training and education. This can help employees better understand their potential risks and learn the best ways to mitigate or avoid them. It can also help employees develop and maintain the skills they need to perform their job safely and effectively. By addressing potential risks and teaching employees how to avoid or mitigate them, organizations can create a safer work environment for all. There are a few things to remember when developing a training and education plan:

• Risks - Identify the risks your employees face and provide training on how to avoid or mitigate them.
• Skills - Provide training on the skills your employees need to perform their job effectively and safely.
• Readiness - Ensure all employees are ready for the training, including having the required materials and knowledge.
• Delivery - Tailor your training to your audience, and choose the best delivery method for your organization.

Implementing Safety Standards

 Safety standards are protocols that help employees identify and avoid potential risks. They can include everything from guidelines for handling dangerous materials to best practices for safe lifting.

By implementing standards, your organization can help ensure employees are prepared to deal with risks and avoid incidents.

There are a few things to keep in mind when implementing safety standards:

• Legislation is the floor – Legal compliance is the foundation of all safety standards. Many industries go well beyond the minimum legal standards by publishing voluntary Industry Consensus Standards. Checking with your local or regional industry association is a good first step to nudge the bar higher.
• Establish clear expectations - Make sure that employees understand what is expected of them, including when and how to follow the standards.
• Communicate the standards – Start at onboarding with a prework orientation and periodically ensure workers are aware of the standards and know how to access them when necessary.
• Review and update - Safety protocols should evolve with new technologies and legislative changes, so review and update them as necessary.

Addressing Potential Risks Proactively

 One of the best ways to deal with at-risk behaviors is to address them before they become an issue. This can help prevent potential incidents and reduce the need to correct behaviors in the aftermath of an injury or other loss. There are a few things to remember when proactively managing risk:

• Use data to identify risks - Use data and analytics to identify potential risks and then create strategies for addressing them before they become an issue. Information from field inspections, focused observations, and incident reports are your friend.
• Engage employees in the risk-prevention process - Get employee buy-in for the strategies, and ensure workers have an impactful role in creating them.
• Focus on prevention, not punishment - The best way to deal with at-risk behaviors is to prevent them from becoming an issue in the first place. Constructive coaching pre-incident is more effective than discipline post-incident.

Promoting Psychological Safety

One of the best ways to create a culture of safety and well-being is to work hard at every level to promote psychological safety. Psychological safety is the shared belief within an organization that it is safe to take interpersonal risk and express oneself without fear of negative consequences.

By creating a dialog about safety and well-being, organizations can help employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, and recommendations for improvement. The result is improved psychological safety.

Engaging Employees in At-Risk Behavior Discussions

 Another strategy for dealing with at-risk behaviors is engaging employees in one-on-one discussions about their risk-related issues.

This can help workers feel like they have a voice and discuss potential risks, while also creating a culture of safety and well-being. For example, a supervisor or executive greatly impacts individual workers when regularly engaging in safety-focused discussions.

Second, there are measurable supervisory inputs to company safety systems. Consider the critical behaviors of your front-line leaders and set expectations for their safety-related tasks and worker interactions.

Assessing and Evaluating Safety Standards

 Another effective strategy for dealing with at-risk behaviors is regularly assessing and evaluating your safety protocols. Doing so can help you identify gaps in your standards and create plans for closing them.

World events, technology, and social policy all have ramifications for safe workplaces. For example, many organizations are adopting policies for severe weather events and workplace violence. An active shooter readiness protocol is, unfortunately, a prudent standard to have in place for many workplaces.

Anticipate changes, listen to the marketplace, interact with your stakeholders, and proactively adjust your standards and operations.

Conclusion

 There are multiple strategies an employer can take to improve workplace safety. Focusing on correcting the management systems that contribute to at-risk behaviors is value-added.

Proactively managing risk, training the workforce, implementing standards, and giving ownership of the day-to-day safety systems to the workers will all contribute to long-term success.