The Safety Culture Myth

The "Safety Culture" Myth

Every organization, regardless of size or industry has a culture.  It may be good, bad, mediocre, mature and well established, or just getting started and trying to find itself; but every organization has one.  Much has been written and discussed about safety culture and the various ways it affects business and people; but, in fact, the term “safety culture” is misleading.

When we think of safety culture, among the first things that pop into our heads is safety performance – is it good or bad?  Are people getting hurt, and how is the organization dealing with it?  Do they seek to prevent occurrences with meaningful and sustainable corrective actions and controls, or do they slap a band aid on it and wait for the next one? 

The truth is, “safety culture” is merely a component part of the overall culture for the organization.  Measures intended to improve safety performance cannot be sustained unless there is a concerted effort to implement them in the context of how they will impact the organization as a whole.  Safety ultimately affects every department and division of an organization, and the skills necessary to make meaningful changes in safety are generally the same one’s that lead a company to higher levels of market and financial performance.

Don’t think of safety culture as a stand-alone marker of your business that is somehow independent of everything else you do.  Rather, think of it as one of many components taking its rightful place in the overall makeup of your approach to success – however you define it.

Influence and the Safety Professional; Part 2

The successful application of influence in the safety world at its basic level is generally directed toward changing behavior.  At a higher level it is normally directed toward more strategic concerns in terms of policy and culture growth.  For some, the differences between the two may alter somewhat how they apply these principles, but the end result is essentially the same – we want to see a change.

Safety professionals must realize the limitations on their role in most organizations.  We are typically given tremendous responsibility, but very little authority.  This makes the prudent and well considered application of your influence all the more important since our “authority” is perceived – not actual. 

One of the first steps in utilizing the power of your influence is to realize that you are just as dependent on others as they are dependent on you.  You must have / or develop a collaborative attitude.  You must also seek the balance between your dependency on them vs. their dependency on you.  If this is out of whack, you will find yourself constantly chasing rabbit trails and squandering the value of your own influence.  Moreover, treating people with the respect, dignity and consideration they deserve as stakeholders and people is essential to not just the successful application of your influence, but also preserving your influence.  Sincerely helping others whenever you get the chance not only strengthens and solidifies the value of your influence, it also opens the door for people to reciprocate with their own help when you need it.

Also, when we treat people as equals, we are giving those people we are trying to influence an opportunity to increase their respect for our knowledge and skill, which is essential for the safety professional.  If the safety professional tries to “pull rank” using authority that is only perceived, he/she only serves to diminish that respect and dilutes their own influence.  Recognizing that people are unique and special in their own right is the path toward compatibility between what you need – change – and what they need – not to get hurt.

Seek to apply your influence in a principled and consistent way (even with the people who challenge you).  It will make your life as a safety professional infinitely easier.

Influence and the Safety Professional; Part 1

For most safety professionals, the days of wandering around the job site or workplace clipboard in hand are largely over.  Today’s safety professionals are increasingly engaged in the process of positively influencing behavior and culture to protect lives and property.

Influence is a part of life whether we know it or not. The thing is, everyone has influence, and everyone is influenced by someone.  But influence is never about manipulation or controlling people.  To have successful influence on the strategic direction of safety in an organization, the safety professional must draw from his/her well of knowledge on building relationships, trust and mutual respect over and over again.  There are very few occasions when this doesn’t involve exerting their influence to “sell” safety to stakeholders, but also applying those skills to understand the stakeholder’s perspective and concerns.

I agree with the concept that “leadership is influence.”  I also recognize that most safety professionals are control freaks to one degree or another.  However, there are those who have come to the realization that you really can’t control people, you can only control process.  You influence people.

A Revealing Safety Assessment Tool

Adapted from a post by Bart Brabham of Learning Unlimited revealing a unique and very useful tool for assessing people’s tendencies to take risks.  Behavioral assessments have been around for many years and there are literally hundreds to choose from.

For the first time, there is now an assessment that is successful in identifying risky behavior and that is a natural fit for the work we do in safety and the challenges that go with it.  SafetyMirror® is not just a behavioral assessment, it is a psychometric tool that measures situational judgment, awareness, and aptitude. This is a fully validated tool that reveals one's SafetyDNA (a true indicator of one’s propensity for engaging in risky behavior) and is known to be a predictive indicator of recordable injuries.

There is also an associated assessment called SafetyMirror 4 Leaders. This particular tool identifies one’s leadership style based on people skills and process skills. The focus of SafetyMirror 4 Leaders is on team members who report to a particular leader. His or her direct reports are at a certain level of exposure based on their leader’s risk profile. This exposure, due to the leader, is a function of the Leader’s SafetyDNA and Leadership style.  Each of these tools provides an excellent opportunity for growth by revealing blind spots and areas for improvement. Used in tandem they can be a very effective in supporting and bolstering an already existing safety culture initiative.

SafetyMirror® and SafetyMirror 4 Leaders provides Leaders and Safety Professionals the unique opportunity to develop relevant and sustainable programs and initiatives that directly address the reasons why people put themselves at risk and how those decisions are made.  It is a revealing and practical tool every business who is concerned about improving their culture and protecting their employees against injury should use.

Incident Focused Cultures vs. Exposure Focused Cultures

What Is Your Organization Focused On - Incidents or Exposures?

Navigating the path to a positive safety culture can be complicated for some organizations - but it doesn't have to be! The first step to culture improvement really lies in determining what your organization values and is focused on. Although there are many competing opinions on culture advancement, my take is that organizations have a tendency to focus on either incidents or exposures. 

If you are focused on the incident, chances are you are reacting to the fact of the incident rather than what caused it. Cultures with this practice tend to suffer from a lack of planning, hazard analysis and sustainable controls. Also, corrective actions rarely address the actual cause in what amounts to a temporary band aide that doesn't solve the problem.

On the other hand, if your organization is focused on exposures, chances are you already have in place many of the elements that lead to strong, preventative cultures. Seeking a detailed understanding of exposures is a proactive, preventative way of approaching risk. 

Simply put, it is the difference between a reactive culture and a proactive culture. Given an opportunity to choose, the vast majority of organizations will almost always choose the proactive approach because it has intrinsic value in preventing incidents.

Ask yourself what your company is focused on - the incident or the exposure? The answer will certainly give you a better perspective on what needs to be done to move your organization forward in culture improvement.