WHEN NO ONE’S
WATCHING…
UNDERSTANDING THE
CONCEPT OF SAFETY
CULTURE
GROUND RULES
 Don’t Take Copious Notes
 Ask Frequent Questions
 Feel Free to Stop By our Booth if you have Questions or want
more info… We are likely not to be able to get through all of the
content!
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WHAT EVENT LEAD TO THE TERM
“SAFETY CULTURE”
1. Challenger Disaster
2. Bhopal India – Union
Carbide
3. Chernobyl
4. Titanic
5. 3-Mile Island
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WHAT DOES THE TERM SAFETY
CULTURE ACTUALLY MEAN???
1. I don’t know
2. What my people do
3. The way my
organization acts
4. Nothing, it’s not a valid
concept
5. Shared beliefs about
safety
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WHAT IS SAFETY CULTURE?
 A constituent of Workplace Culture
 The key component to determining if a workplace safety
process is successful or not (Erickson 1994,
Petersen 2001, Krause,
2006 etc…)
 An idea that is not difficult to understand, but is difficult to
define
 A LEADING INDICATOR
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WHAT IS A LEADING INDICATOR
1. A process-oriented
metric that predicts
success or failure
2. A validated measure that
has value by not relying
on outcomes
3. A metric that can be
used to evaluate a
process before
outcomes occur
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THE TERM SAFETY CULTURE
 Used over and over and over (53,000,00 Google Hits September
23, 2012)
 Not well understood by many in the field of safety…
 How do you know if you have a safety culture or not?
 Generally used to describe an overall sense of they way it feels
like employees, supervisors, and managers engage in safety
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A KEY COMPONENT OF WORKPLACE
CULTURE?
 Some authorities completely discount the concept of “safety
culture”
 Others view it as a component of overall workplace culture
 Many Safety Professionals view it as a distinct entity in and of
itself
 Some advocate that it is a leading indicator and others state
it is lagging
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OUR DESCRIPTION OF SAFETY CULTURE
A CRITICAL PART OF THE OVERALL CULTURAL
FRAMEWORK OF AN ORGANIZATION
 The way we do things around here
 What employees do when no one is watching
 The beliefs, actions, behaviors, values, and traditions of safety
activities for a company tied together with a historical context
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COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS OF
SAFETY CULTURE
 Only set by the management
 Safety processes such as employee engagement initiatives or
Behavior Based Safety will immediately improve the culture
 Culture can’t be controlled or changed, it just is…
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WHERE DOES SAFETY CULTURE
REALLY COME FROM?
 The Larger Organizational Culture
 The Founder Effect!
 Regional and Societal Norms
 Industry Specific Values and Traditions
 Environmental or Objective Driven Culture
 Management Influence (management often rose through the
ranks and was selected because they conform to the culture)
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HOW TO
CHANGE/IMPROVE AN
EXISTING
SAFETY CULTURE
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LET’S TALK ABOUT EMPLOYEE
MOTIVATION
 What are the two primary motivators for employees to work
safely???
 If you want to get different results… change the fundamental
motivation.
IF YOU WANT DIFFERENT RESULTS… DO
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
 Transition from a culture of blame to one of accomplishment
 Move from Fault-Finding to Fact-Finding
 Create a fully Engaging Culture
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HOW IS SAFETY CULTURE USUALLY
EVALUATED?
 Safety Surveys
 Safety Cultural Interviews
 Behavioral and Situational Observation
 Each of these evaluates a slightly different manifestation of safety
culture (perception, beliefs, and actions)
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HAS YOUR CURRENT COMPANY USED A
PERCEPTION SURVEY?
1. Yes – Both Safety and
Engagement
2. Yes – Just Engagement
3. Yes – Just Safety
4. No – None at All
47%
40%
33%
18%
1
2
3
4
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USING A PERCEPTION SURVEY
 Allows for Anonymous Involvement of Employees
 Automatically Becomes Empirical
 Not Difficult to Administer
 Typical Participation can be as High as 90%
 According to the Petersen Study (2001) is the indicator that is
directly linked with outcome performance
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A SURVEY CAN ACCOMPLISH…
 Quantified Culture Evaluation Allows an Organization to
1.
Determine Gaps in Perception Between Management and
Employees
2.
Establish A Baseline to Measure the Results of Safety
Initiatives Against
3.
Demonstrates Concern for Employees
4.
Can Benchmark with Other Organizations
5.
Provides information on a number of Demographics
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WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN RESULTS
 Internal comparisons
 External comparisons
 Strengths or weaknesses in SMS
 Gaps in perceptions based on:
 Employee Tenure
 Employee Grade
 Locations
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WHAT HAVE WE FOUND WITH REGARDS TO
SAFETY CULTURE FROM OUR CARES SURVEY™
CATEGORY
2011
RCI Safety Data Base
Average
Control Questions
4.44
Safety Training and Safety Fluency
4.23
Employee Ownership and Engagement in Safety
4.13
Safety Communication
4.09
Safety Systems/Policies and Procedures
4.08
Management Ownership and Involvement in Safety
4.08
Performance Management
4.07
Reporting and Investigation
4.05
Safety Department Functionality
4.00
Risk Identification and Control
3.94
Supervisor Ownership and Involvement in Safety
3.91
Workplace Systems
3.89
Employee Empowerment
3.86
General Cultural Questions
3.83
Safety Versus Production
3.73
Overall Average
4.01
YOUR SAFETY TRAINING IS EFFECTIVE.
(4.23)
1. Strongly Disagree
75%
2. Somewhat Disagree
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
20%
22%
18%
5%
1
2
3
4
5
YOUR EMPLOYEES ARE ENGAGED IN SAFETY.
(4.13)
1. Strongly Disagree
74%
2. Somewhat Disagree
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
33%
20%
9%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
MANAGEMENT TAKES OWNERSHIP FOR
SAFETY. (4.08)
1. Strongly Disagree
45%
2. Somewhat Disagree
3. Neither Agree or
33%
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
25%
25%
5%
1
2
3
4
5
EMPLOYEES RECEIVE SUFFICIENT FEEDBACK AND
COACHING FOR THEIR SAFETY ACTIVITIES. (4.07)
1. Strongly Disagree
56%
2. Somewhat Disagree
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
37%
24%
11%
9%
1
2
3
4
5
SUPERVISORS TAKE OWNERSHIP FOR
SAFETY AND MODEL SAFE BEHAVIOR. (3.91)
1. Strongly Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
YOUR COMPANY IS ETHICAL AND PROVIDES
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCEMENT. (3.83)
1. Strongly Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree
51%
45%
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
20%
13%
7%
1
2
3
4
5
PRODUCTION DEMANDS ARE NOT VALUED
MORE THAN SAFETY. (3.73)
1. Strongly Disagree
40%
2. Somewhat Disagree
33%
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
24%
24%
18%
1
2
3
4
5
EMPLOYEES ARE COMFORTABLE REPORTING
ACCIDENTS, INJURIES, AND NEAR MISSES. (3.65)
1. Strongly Disagree
2. Somewhat Disagree
3. Neither Agree or
Disagree
4. Somewhat Agree
5. Strongly Agree
WHAT ARE WE SEEING WITH COMPANIES THAT
HAVE TAKEN MORE THAN ONE CARES SURVEY™
• When conducted in Conjunction with BBS or
other Safety Culture Improvement
Initiatives…
 1) The Safety Culture Score Improves from
10% - 15%
 2) Injuries Decline 35% - 65%
 3) Production and Profitability is not
Impacted
OTHER TRENDS/COMMONALITIES
Business Acquisitions/Divestitures
• Management Support for Safety Appears
to have Paramount Importance
• Organizations with the strongest Safety
Cultures tend to
•
 Be smaller organizations
 Perceived to have strong Safety Departments
 Consistently Rank Production VS Safety as
the lowest category
OTHER CARES SURVEY™ RESULTS
 Safety Culture Norms Based on Tenure not as Divergent as
other Demographics
 Gaps Based on Employee Class can be Significant or Flat
 Gaps Based on Locations and Departments are Typically very
Large
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WHY CONDUCT INTERVIEWS?
 To Gain Additional Knowledge About the Safety Culture
 To Obtain Specific Information
 To Validate the Results of Specific Initiatives
 To Provide Relevant Location Information
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WHY OBSERVE BEHAVIORS?
 To Validate the Results from Surveys and Interviews
 To Obtain the “REST-OF-THE-STORY”
 To Accumulate Any Other Relevant Information
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WHAT ARE SOME INDICATORS OF A
STRONG SAFETY CULTURE?
 Management that Consistently Sets the Example
 An Organization that is Willing to Ask and Answer Hard
Questions
 An Empowered Workforce that is Able to Make Meaningful
Contributions to the Safety Process
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STRONG CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
CONTINUED…
 High-Functioning Safety Committees
 Well Written Safety Mission and Values Statements
 A Professional Safety Department
 Not “JUST” Starting Organizational Meetings with Safety
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STRONG CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
CONTINUED…
 A Process of Self Auditing, Risk
Assessment, or Formalized Hazard
Identification
 Presence of a Plan for Mergers,
Acquisitions, and Sale of Business Units
 Linkage of Safety to all Levels of the
Business
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WEAK CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
 Using only lagging indicators to measure performance
These measure failure rates
They manage safety by looking at what has
happened not what will happen
May encourage injury hiding
Recordability or Severity is influenced by many
factors AFTER the even
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WEAK CHARACTERISTICS CONT…
 Poor Incentive Programs
 A vigilant focus on the outcomes not
the process
 Too much safety training
 Accident Investigations that result in
causal factors like “wasn’t paying
attention, needs to be more careful”
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WEAK CHARACTERISTICS CONT…
 Use of Punishment in Accountability
Standards
 Punishment does not reinforce anything
 Punishment becomes part of a repeating cycle
 Has the use of punishment ever inspired
anyone?
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ACCOUNTABILITY VS PUNISHMENT
Punishment can become an organizational
value
Punishment is needed under certain
circumstances… however, it will only generate
malicious compliance (at best)
Balance is KEY!
A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES THAT
GOVERNMENT IS BEGINNING TO GET IT
 OSHA Letter of Interpretation
 FAA Rules for Air Traffic Controllers
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WHAT ABOUT CULTURE VERSUS
CLIMATE?
 Safety Climate and Safety Culture are often used as one in the
same concept…, but there are significant differences
 Culture is the underlying belief system that drives innate
actions. Culture is generally a company concept (but not
always)
 Climate is a specific measure in time that describes how
things are at a location or other sub-unit level.
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Safety
Management
System
Safety
Culture
Behavioral Safety
TO CREATE AN OPTIMAL CONDITION
AFTER CULTURE HAS BEEN EVALUATED
Begin to
Approach Safety
With Integrity!
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INTEGRITY
 Integrity is defined as always being true to your core values
 Doing the right thing when no one is watching
 Demonstrating a repeatable and predictable pattern of always
engaging in actions that are ethical, moral, and always
contribute to the betterment of society
SAFETY
 Safety represents the preservation of life, health, and well-
being. It is the fundamental condition of being protected
against physical, financial, occupational, educational or other
types of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other
event which is not desirable.
 When done the right way, Safety must inherently have Integrity
SOME CLASSIC EXAMPLES OF WORDS
LACKING INTEGRITY
 Elliott Spitzer
 Tiger Woods
 Pete Rose
 Bill Clinton
 Mark Sanford
 Richard Nixon
 Others?
CONSIDER THESE WORDS
 Safety is our Most Important Value
 Be mindful of risk all the time
 Always be careful
 Be aware of your surrounds at all times
 Expect the Unexpected
 If it can go wrong
 … it will?
WHAT WORDS ARE IMPORTANT
 Safety Vision and Mission Statement
 Well-Designed Written Programs
 Written Management Commitments
 Appreciative Feedback
 Education and Direction
KNOWING YOUR COMPANY’S SAFETY
CULTURE
 Culture influences everything that an organization
undertakes as an initiative
 Culture is the most important Leading Indicator and an
Upstream Metric with predictive value
 Culture can Change Given Directed Efforts
 Organizational Behavior influences culture and vice-versa
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WHAT OCCURS WHEN THE SAFETY
CULTURE IS STRENGTHENED?
 Morale Improves
 Productivity goes up
 Employee Engagement Improves Dramatically
 Safety Results are Greatly Enhanced
 A System of Continuous Improvement is Established
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THE PINNACLE OF WORKPLACE SAFETY!
 Senior leadership provides a concrete vision of
ethical safety that is demonstrated by the alignment
of organizational actions within this vision
 Continuous improvement is measured using leading
indicators
 Full and complete employee engagement is attained
and demonstrated as employees take personal
ownership for their own safety and the safety of their
co-workers
 All elements of the Safety Management System (SMS)
are fully integrated
 Strategies for controlling risk are customized to the
environment where they are employed
 For Further Information…
 Feel free to contact me at
 Chris.goulart@rci-safety.com
 (586) 764-2126
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