Emil Aliyev 1 1.4 Create new opportunities to communicate information about a positive health and safety culture 1.5 Investigate ways to overcome barriers to change 1.4 – 1.5 The student should write a reflective piece in which they discuss ways that they have created new opportunities to communicate information about a positive health and safety culture. They should also discuss how they have investigated ways to overcome barriers to change and what their findings were. Word count: 500 minimum “The safety culture of an organisation is the important step for evolution of responsibility from stakeholders to 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. Aim of a positive safety culture are characterised by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures.” ACSNI Human Factors Study Group: Third report Organising for safety HSE Books 1993. 1.4 Create new opportunities to communicate information about a positive health and safety culture Improve of health and safety culture of organisation should be continually strive to them. I provide a proactive approach by conducting site visit inspections and writing reports based on my findings highlighting good practices observed and making recommendations for improvement where either control measures lack or there is a breach of legislation. Occasionally this is met with resistance whereby the individuals or the organisation like to challenge recommendations made or demonstrate ignorance to the required legislation, procedures and Safety Rules. Some time they feel it’s a personal failing on their part. There was a particularly low point for a contractor when I highlighted numerous hazards on site that hadn’t been adequately controlled as well as breaches of legislation. We have now developed a procedure whereby they provide feedback on actions taken based on recommendations made. Based on written above were revealed ways for to create proper opportunities which include elements: 1. Management Leadership – “To establish appropriate health and safety culture within the organisation should come from the top management. Health and safety performance comes from the top; members of the board have both collective and individual responsibility for health and safety. Directors and boards need to examine their own behaviours, both individually and collectively, against the guidance given and, where they see that they fall short of the standards it sets them, to change what they do to become more effective leaders in health and safety.” https://www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/whyleadership.htm Emil Aliyev 2 2. Communication - A properly built line of communication will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the implemented positive health and safety culture. Based on twoway ways communication principles that includes elements such as feedback received through the tools like - Safety Meetings, Tool Box Talks and Safety Standdowns. Communication allows to identify weaknesses and strengths, of invented health and safety culture and ways to improve. 3. Trainings - Based on one of the principles of KATE. Training is one of the key elements of a positive health and safety culture. “Training employees demonstrates the company’s commitment to health and safety. Employees who are trained tend to embrace a health and safety culture more easily because they understand hazards and the effect that they can have on maintaining workplace safety. It is important to remind employees of key points from the training to reinforce the message and ensure they understand what is required” https://blog.dmcc.ae/hse-corner-building-positivehealth-and-safety-culture ( By HSE@dmcc.ae) 4. Develop and Implement a Positive Reporting Process - One of the elements of successful implementation of a positive culture in health and safety could be the selfinterest of employees. This personal interest can be stimulated by reward employees who report safety hazards or concerns. “A positive safety culture will be much easier to build and maintain when employees feel comfortable reporting concerns and believe that the reporting process is positive.” https://indexconstruction.ca/blog/6-tips-to-helpbuild-a-positive-safety-culture/ (July 14 2018) 5. Involve Workers - Any health and safety system are dead without involvement in its implementation in the relationship system in the organization. The main marker of the success of the introduction of a positive culture of health and safety, the acceptance of culture from the side of employees. Implementation tools can be continuous monitoring of the introduction of special questionnaires. Revealing and showing other employee’s positive examples by posting posters of Safe Workers of the Month, Quarter, Year. Tangible increases to the monthly salaries of distinguished employees. Building and maintaining a strong safety culture starts from the ground up. Another way to achieve employee buy-in is to involve them in the process. Ask them what they would like the reporting process to look like, or get their feedback on current communication methods. 1.5 Investigate ways to overcome barriers to change Summarizing a positive safety culture above this is a logical continuation of the obligations assumed by the employer. The most obvious of these obstacles are sometimes misunderstanding of the top management, conflict between production Emil Aliyev 3 needs and HSE requirements, lack of sufficient information about a positive safety culture, low level of perception in society. Despite these challenges, there are concrete ways to overcome these barriers. Leadership - One of the main vectors for overcoming barriers in the development of a positive culture of health and safety. This vector will serve as the main trigger for the formation of collective responsibility and team spirit. A positive culture of health and safety the introduction of the principles of good leadership through personal examples and organization a positive safety culture for all levels of leadership. By personal involvement and demonstrating team spirit for developing positive health and safety culture. The conflict between production needs and HSE requirements - Unfortunately, sometimes the introduction of a positive culture of health and safety may face such an obstacle as production needs such as limited time periods, the absence and unwillingness to perceive a positive culture of health and safety, informative limitations, and others. To overcome this really big barrier, one can resort to mapping the possible difficulties and financial and image losses that an organization may face without an appropriate positive health and safety culture. Detailed display of benefits and possible losses in the absence of a positive safety culture in the structure of the organization. i Lack of information – Information is one of the main tools for introducing a positive health and safety culture. The lack of information about the benefits of a positive health and safety culture is a direct path to a dead end and a lack of acceptance on the part of the employees of the organization of the changes being introduced. Organized meetings, trainings, two-way communication and open sources with explanatory literature in an accessible language will serve as an excellent tool to overcome this barrier. Information could be overcome by building proper bridge of communication, involvement of management to webinars and conference main topics will be a positive safety culture. Low level of perception in society - most often due to a number of reasons such as the low level of legislators in relation to health and safety requirements, low level of public responsibility for health and safety, lack of competence and lack of education in the majority of society. The way to overcome this barrier can be the standards, procedures and best practices of the organization that will become the foundation for the formation of a positive culture of health and safety Bibliography: ACSNI Human Factors Study Group: Third report - Organising for safety HSE Books 1993. https://www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/whyleadership.htm Emil Aliyev 4 https://blog.dmcc.ae/hse-corner-building-positive-health-and-safety-culture ( By HSE@dmcc.ae) https://indexconstruction.ca/blog/6-tips-to-help-build-a-positive-safety-culture/ 14 2018) (July Bibliography and references: https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Managing_Health_and_Safety/Safety_and_Health_Managem ent_Systems/ https://www.workrise.com/hub/how-to-build-a-first-class-health-and-safety-culture/ (October 12, 2021 - Austin, TX) https://www.ecoonline.com/blog/5-practical-steps-to-change-the-safety-culture-in-yourorganisation ( By Author: Tanya) https://www.safetysolutions.net.au/content/business/article/12-features-of-an-effectivehealth-and-safety-culture-803574492 (By Damien Wallis, Senior Assessor (OHS/EMS) at Lloyd's Register Monday, 25 March, 2019) https://www.hseblog.com/the-organizational-health-and-safety-responsibilities-of-directors/ (ByHealth & Safety March 25, 2022) https://blog.dmcc.ae/hse-corner-building-positive-health-and-safety-culture ( By HSE@dmcc.ae) https://www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/whyleadership.htm https://osg.ca/six-tips-to-help-you-build-a-positive-safety-culture-in-your-workplace/ (By Jenn Miller) alcumus.com/en-gb/insights/blog/building-a-winning-safety-culture/ ( By ALCUMUS 7TH of March) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-occupational-health-safety-leadership-importantbernard/ (By Bernard Fontaine, Jr., CIH, CSP, FAIHA 26 July 2016) https://www.hseni.gov.uk/articles/ceos-and-directors-responsibilities-health-and-safety
