Workplace Safety Culture & Leadership

Source excerpt

Strengthening Jobsite Safety Climate by Using and Improving Leading Indicators # Improving Supervisory Leadership Construction companies in partnership with workers are responsible for ensuring that jobsite hazards are eliminated or at least minimized. These partnerships are most effective when they exist within a positive safety climate. The safety climate on a specific construction project refers to managements' and workers' shared perceptions of the adequacy of the safety and health programs and the consistency between the organization's espoused safety policies/procedures and the actual conditions at the jobsite. It is the combination of safety climates from multiple organizations including the project owner, construction manager/general contractor, and subcontractors and it may be influenced by local conditions such as project delivery, scheduling, planning methods and existing norms amongst involved trades. WORKSHEET #4 Supervisors have the authority and ability to make changes and correct hazards on the jobsite. Therefore, how they lead, act as role models, and communicate are probably the most important factors in determining the degree to which a strong positive project safety climate is achieved. The organization's expectations are key to shaping supervisors' safety-related attitudes and behaviors. Which of the following best describes your company? <table><tr><th>There is no safety-related vision or leadership. Supervisors have no supervisory training and have little understanding or knowledge of regulatory requirements. Supervisors manage and punish using intimidation and the focus is only on individual behavior without taking the process into account. Supervisors play the blame game when an incident occurs instead of performing root-cause analysis. There is no system of accountability or it is not applied evenly. The focus is on production.</th><th>Supervisors ignore crew input regarding potential hazards and close calls. They focus on individual …

Source excerpt

# Chapter 1: Defining and Framing Safety Culture and Climate for the Construction Industry (cont.) ## Figure 1b. Handout: Definitions of Safety Climate (cont.) Table 1. Participants' top ranked choices for safety culture definition <table><tr><th>Shared values (what is important) and beliefs (how things work) that interact with a company's people, organizational structures and control systems to produce behavioral norms (the way we do things around here).</th><th>30%</th></tr><tr><td>Safety culture reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and values that leadership and employees share in relation to safety.</td><td>29%</td></tr><tr><td>Safety culture reflects the stakeholders' values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of an organization's health and safety management.</td><td>14%</td></tr><tr><td>Safety culture is the concept that the organization's beliefs and attitudes, manifested in actions, policies, and procedures, affect its safety performance.</td><td>11%</td></tr><tr><td>Safety culture reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and values that leadership and employees share in relation to safety. [Integrating safety into organizational and cultural operations]</td><td>9%</td></tr><tr><td>The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of an organization's health and safety management. Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures.</td><td>7%</td></tr></table> ## Table 2. Participants' top ranked choices for safety climate definition <table><tr><th>Safety Climate is a leading indicator. It reflects how well the espoused safety pro…

Source excerpt

# Chapter 4: Interventions to Improve Safety Climate (cont.) Results - Table 6 lists the interventions the groups discussed for the factors identified in earlier session. Table 6. Interventions to address factors and improve safety climate <table><tr><th>Factor</th><th>Interventions</th></tr><tr><td>Supervisory Leadership</td><td>Include safety in the strategic planning process Define safety roles and responsibilities • Lead by example • Promote a continuous learning environment Hold people accountable for safety • Have senior leaders visible on safety issues, • Safety communications from leadership • Supervisors "walking the talk"</td></tr><tr><td>Safety as a value/ safety alignment</td><td>Safety behavior/attitude used in hiring and promotion decisions. • Safety as an objective at all levels of the organization • Safety included in the planning and bidding process Safety should never be compromised by production Positive reinforcements for safety and metrics to show continuous improvement. Aligning safety and productivity • Including safety at production and planning meetings</td></tr><tr><td>Management commitment</td><td> Safety addressed as the first item on the agenda at every meeting. Adequate budget for safety • Safety always included in pre-task planning. • Reward safety processes, not outcomes. • Management should make spontaneous safety visits.</td></tr><tr><td>Employee empowerment/and involvement</td><td>• Safety committees that can address a wide range of issues. The right people must be chosen. The committee must have clear objectives, a role in planning, communicate expectations to management and have the authority to make decisions. • Stop work authority No fear of reporting • Participation in JSA/JHA preparation and audits. • Employees involved in tailgate problem solving sessions.</td></tr><tr><td>Accountability</td><td>• Fairness of the system Consistency of enforcement. • Accountability for near misses • External audits of top management …

Source excerpt

# Chapter 6: Recommendations and Conclusions (cont.) ## C. Optimize management commitment (cont.) exposures and adverse safety outcomes before they happen. Companies can begin doing this on their own using simple forms and Excel spreadsheets or they can hire outside consultant firms. Some contractors facilitate regular interaction among corporate managers, project manage- ment, and craft workers by requiring that managers conduct frequent site walkthroughs and have safety-related conversations with workers on-site. Others establish open communication pathways so that every time there is a safety-related incident a report is funneled from the worksite through project managers to top executives, and the steps taken to address the incident are reported back down to project managers and workers. Contractor leadership should give safety and productivity messages equal status at site orientations and other regularly held meetings. Rather than lofty statements like "Safety is our number 1 priority," specifics like the expectation that employees are empowered to stop work when they see a hazard or if they feel uncomfortable continuing to work in a particular situation should be made clear. Alternative pathways need to be created for employees to report safety-related issues if they are not resolved through the supervisor. Safety "stand-downs" are becoming more common on construction projects but typically conducted only after a serious injury or mishap occurs. Contractors proactively address safety might consider using them more proactively to address safety topics of concern and relevance to front-line employees or supervisors. Such periodic stand-downs would send strong positive prevention messages, and structuring them to maximize worker participation would demonstrate that management believes that safety is a participa- tory activity and that workers play a critical role. Use safety stand-downs to topics of concern and relevance. ## D. Empower and involve workers …

Source excerpt

# Chapter 3: Assessing Safety Climate (cont.) <table><tr><th>Dysfunctional</th><th>Reactive</th><th>Compliant</th><th>Proactive</th><th>Exemplary</th></tr><tr><td colspan="5">Supervisory leadership</td></tr><tr><td>Manage and punish through intimidation. The focus is on the individual not the process. There is no safety-related vision or leadership. Blame game is often played vs. root cause analysis. Employees are easily replaced if injured and there is no understanding or knowledge of regulatory requirements.</td><td>Management concerned with safety only after accident/ incident. Supervisors focus on individual behaviors.</td><td>Management supports safety program and policies.</td><td>Supervisor participates in and initiates safety program activities for continuous improvement. Seeks advice from and includes workers in all aspects.</td><td>Supervisors show deep commitment to safety and inspire/motivate worker to share that level of commitment. Establishes clear roles and responsibilities for safety but instills a sense of safety ownership at all levels - horizontally and vertically. Supervisor conveys personal vision for safety at start of meetings, and safety is a major component at meetings. Supervisors are effective communicators and are able to coach and teach safety to workers. Encourages changes and continuous learning. Leads by example</td></tr><tr><td colspan="5">Training</td></tr><tr><td>Company doesn't care about training. Fraudulent training cards are accepted.</td><td>Leaders required to obtain OSHA 10-hour certificate. Training is implemented after accident only. Training is aimed at the individual worker. Training effort diminishes over time.</td><td>Leaders required to obtain OSHA 30-hour certificate. An off-the-shelf curriculum is used to meet OSHA and management system training requirements. Instructors have minimal qualifications... Majority of training is provided via toolbox talks. Training records are kept.</td><td>Leadership acknowledges the…