The safety culture of an organisation is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation’s health and safety management.
– Dr T.R. Lee
Accidents and incidents are occupational hazards associated with any activity involving humans and machines. However, one accident is too many. Workplace-related disasters are a result of a breakdown in an organisation’s policies and procedures that were established to deal with safety. The breakdown flows from inadequate attention being paid to safety issues. Detailed analysis of accidents and incidents brings out the trend and tells a story. The remedial actions and the seriousness of their implementation depend upon the outcome of the analysis.
Safety culture. Safety Culture is the way safety is perceived, valued and prioritised in an organisation. It reflects the real commitment to safety at all levels of the organisation. It is the collection of the beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share about risks within an organisation. It is a set of ways of doing and thinking that is widely shared by the employees of an organisation in the context of managing the most significant risks associated with its activities. A good safety culture can be promoted by senior management’s commitment to safety. Factors like safe practices, realistic hazard handling, and individual training form the foundation for a systemic safety culture.
Key Attributes of Safety Culture. Key attributes of safety culture include:-
• Strong support from leadership.
• Acknowledgement of the high-risk activities.
• Determination to achieve safe operations.
• Responsibility (everyone) for safety implementation.
• A blame-free environment for reporting unsafe conditions
• Encouragement to seek safety solutions.
• Commitment of resources to address safety concerns
Need For Cultural Change. A good safety culture helps an organisation maintain safe operations by having everyone, from operators to managers, take safety seriously, remaining watchful and avoiding compromises, which means that operations are conducted in as safe a manner. Modern equipment is costly. The product support, spares and repair schemes are also expensive and time-consuming. Besides the downtime of the equipment results in a loss of revenue. On the other hand, the training of manpower also costs money. Affordability due to loss of machine or skilled manpower is a cause for concern. Accountability is another factor to be kept in mind. In any organisation, it is the moral duty of all the personnel to be accountable for the equipment they operate. It is incumbent upon all personnel to look after the safety of the equipment.
Cultural Change in Approach Towards Safety
There is a need to bring a cultural change in how one looks at safety in our day-to-day work.
Avoidability and Accountability. Two factors that need consideration before deciding to ring the alarm bell are Avoidability and Accountability. The situation is serious if the trend shows that these are by and large repetitive and avoidable, caused because the lessons learnt from previous experiences have not been followed in letter and spirit. The second factor is related to the personnel involved. The situation demands Immediate and drastic action if the personnel involved are the ones who are responsible for ensuring the safe conduct of operations in their area of jurisdiction.
Ingrainment. Safety culture needs to be ingrained in the minds of all the personnel. A classic example which comes to mind is that it is ingrained in our minds that one should never insert their fingers in the electric socket. This thought is so deeply ingrained in our minds that even if someone tries to pull your fingers towards the socket, involuntarily one would jerk their hands free. The safety aspects related to one’s work activity need to be ingrained to this extent.
Ownership. The safety programme cannot be seriously implemented till the time every person develops a sense of ownership. Words of former defence minister Mr Manohar Parriker come to mind wherein he used to give the example of the possibility of a child slipping from the mother’s hand and getting injured. Such an occurrence is never heard of because the mother will get hurt herself but not let the baby get hurt. This is because of the ownership (My Baby). At home, everyone takes precautions while handling costly equipment to avoid any damage to it. The equipment handled at work is much costlier. However, at times lackadaisical attitude is displayed while handling it. A sense of ownership needs to be inculcated in all the personnel. “My Job, My Equipment, My Responsibility – I Will Do it Well and I Will Do it Safely” is the attitude required.
Use of Superior Skill and Judgement. Superior skill and judgement come with practice and experience. It is developed with a higher experience level and qualifications. On the flip side, it also brings along a tendency to be complacent or risk-taking temptation. One needs to remember that the purpose of higher skill and judgement level is to avoid potentially dangerous situations and certainly not to get out of them.
Man–Machine Interface. Another aspect that needs to be remembered is that the machines work and react according to the rules of science (mechanics and physics). These machines do not know the experience level or the qualifications of the crew handling them. They react to the inputs received by them.
Respect for Legacy Equipment. Legacy equipment and systems need careful handling. It is akin to handling our old senior citizens at home. Extra care is taken about their needs, health, medicines, comfort diet etc. Similarly, the legacy equipment and systems need extra precaution and care.
Safety Rules
Strictly Follow SOPs, Orders and Instructions. The Standard Operating Procedures, orders and Instructions have evolved over the years with a lot of thought. These need to be followed strictly in letter and spirit. The Adage “Do what is documented and document what you do” is very relevant.
Complacency and Shortcuts. Complacency and resorting to shortcuts are the cause of many accidents and incidents. They creep in under circumstances when the experienced crew perform a repetitive mundane task. These aspects need to be reiterated time and again.
Risk Taking. Calculated risk-taking is an avoidable term. There is no activity which cannot be undertaken at a later date and time. If in doubt about the machine or the safety environment aborting is a better option rather than pressing on or taking chances.
Principle of 3 Rs. The principle of the three Rs (Right Person, Right Equipment and Right Procedure) is very important. The supervisors must ensure that this is followed in letter and spirit. They need to give their teams the knowledge, tools, and confidence to work safely, meet higher standards, and improve every day.
Comprehensive Training and Handing/Taking Over. Training is an important part of the operation. The manpower should be adequately skilled to undertake the assigned task. Safety aspects are an essential part of the training and should include contingencies, plans and safety-related aspects. Proper handing and taking over in between the change of shifts is another very important aspect.
Weather and Terrain. Weather and terrain affect man and machine. The precautions to be taken and the DOs and DONTs related to changes in weather need to be reiterated again and again.
Guidelines to Achieve a Positive Safety Culture.
• Show commitment. The leadership and the senior management need to demonstrate commitment to the safety aspects within the organisation.
• Encourage Reporting. Reporting of unsafe incidents should be encouraged with the introduction of an easy-to-use reporting system.
• Encourage communication. A constructive conversation about safety culture should be encouraged in the workplace. Verbal/written praise and financial incentives are effective ways of motivating people to report potential risks.
• Take Prompt Action. To achieve a good safety culture, it is important to back up your words with prompt actions.
• Be Proactive. Waiting for accidents to happen is dangerous and goes against the principles of positive safety culture. Be proactive, investigate, and take appropriate corrective actions in time.
• Involve the Staff in the Decision-Making. People who do the job day in and day out have a unique perspective on safety. They should be heard before making any safety-related decisions.
• Address Dismissive Behaviour. Negative attitudes towards safety should be addressed to make it clear that this is something that will not be tolerated.
• Mental health is Important. It is common to think that safety risks are connected to physical dangers in the workplace alone. The mental health (psychological well-being) of workers is equally important.
Improving an organisation’s safety culture is a long process because people’s attitudes and behaviours take time to change. It usually starts with smaller changes at the local level graduating on to larger wholesale changes later on. Therefore, it is important to ensure that these building blocks of a safe culture are top-driven and bottom-up.
References:-
1. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/learning/safetyculturehc/module-1/6.html
2. https://worldsteel.org/steel-topics/safety-and-health/safety-culture-and-leadership-fundamentals/
3. https://www.riskmach.co.uk/article/how-to-improve-workplace-safety-culture/#:~:text=The%20simplest%20way%20to%20go,up%20your%20words%20with%20actions.
4. https://www.icsi-eu.org/en/mag/types-safety-culture
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_culture
Comments 1