Corporate Wellness Meets
Safety Culture: Why
Protecting Workers is
Good Business
David P. Gilkey, D.C., Ph.D., CPE
Carla Lopez del Puerto, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
Department of Construction Management
Colorado State University
Colorado Culture of Health April 30th, 2014
Session Objectives
Those attending this session should be
able to:
1. Explain concepts of work culture, safety
climate, worksite wellness, occupational
health and safety and how they improve
the wellbeing of employees, employers
and are good business.
Today’s Focus
Health
Safety
The Hypothesis
Cultivating a positive corporate climate and
culture is a path to improved employee and
company health, safety, profitability and
sustainability.
http://www.airproducts.com/company/Sustainability/managing-sustainability.aspx
The Message
• Embracing the relationship of wellness to
occupational safety is core to developing
successful strategies to ensure that your
organization has high measures of safety
climate, employee health and wellness,
profitability and sustainability.
Corporate Sustainability | Danielito C. Vizcayno Blogs
Contrary or Complementary
Health
Safety
Wellness
Compliance
Productivity
Efficiency
Quality
Profits
Balanced by Design
Home life
Family
Friends
Hobbies
Culture
Worksite
Exposures
Conditions
Practices
Culture
Healthy Relationships and Practices
Ergonomics
An Applied science intending to optimize the
fit of humans to work!
Environment
Productivity
Efficiency
Ergonomics
Quality
Worker Health
Person
Optimization
Job
Worksite Wellness Pays
The benefits of worksite health and safety:
• Lower health care costs
• Higher morale and greater job satisfaction
• Higher productivity
• Fewer injuries
• Ability to recruit & retain top talent
• Lower absenteeism
CWHE, 2013
Business Strategies
Dr. Ram Nidumolu
“Top Sustainable Business Strategies from 2012”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Core Capabilities - Values and sustainability
Markets - Current and emerging
Governance - Megatrends, reporting & risk mgt
Stakeholder Mgt – Suppliers, invest, bus Mgt
Resource Mgt – Food, water, energy, global
impacts and outlook…
Competition!
Culture of Wellness
• What is culture?
• What is wellness?
• What is safety?
• What is profitability?
Organizational Culture
Zohar, 2010
• Organizational culture can be thought of
as “the interaction between the
organization and individuals”.
• Good Culture?
• Bad Culture?
Safety Culture?
• What is safety culture?
• Many things to many people…
“Top-level managers create policies,
procedures, programs, budgets, and
provide for personnel, equipment, and
training and, in doing so, create the culture
of the company.”
Safety Culture Concepts
• Company leaders create organizational
infrastructure, establish hierarchy of
managers, provide resources, and deploy
their policies and procedures, thereby
setting the tone for day-to-day priorities,
work safe behaviors, adherence to safety
standards, and the consequence of noncompliance.
Safety Climate?
• What is safety climate?
• How is it different than culture?
Safety climate results from the enacted
policies and procedures related to safety
and the employee’s perceptions and
assumptions about the real priorities and
consistency of management policies and
procedures. What if…?
Climate vs Culture
• We measure climate to understand culture
Climate and culture exist simultaneously
and thus are influenced from the bottom
up, and top-down interactions and
perceptions may vary in relation to one’s
level within the organization…
Cultural Difference
• What affects do cultural differences
present when creating safety culture?
• Do people from other cultures make the
same personal and professional
assumptions about their workplace
cultures in America?
– We think not….
Domains of Climate
Zohar, 1990
1) Management commitment to safety:
#1 – Most important
2) Organizational status of safety officer:
Does the S&H manager meet
with top management? $?
Domains of Climate
3) Organizational status of safety committee:
Is the committee real, funded,
respected, sought after?
4) Successful safety training:
Who is trained? What is offered?
Is training supported? Effective?
Domains of Climate
5) Level of risk at the workplace:
How do employees feel
about the risk in their jobs?
Conditions? Exposures?
6) Effect of safe conduct on social status:
Is safe work supported?
Reinforced? Admired?
Domains of Climate
7) Effect of safe conduct on promotion
within the organization:
Is safety health part of the
annual review? Is it supported?
8) Effects of required work pace on safe
work practices:
What if?
Safety Culture
Zohar, 2010
• 202 studies had been published on safety
climate in numerous work environments
over a span of 30 years and that a
preponderance of evidence
demonstrates that… a relationship
existed between safety climate criteria
and injury and illness outcomes.
»Culture matters!
Safety Culture
Zohar, 2010
• Stated that safety climate measures are
leading indicators of injury and illness and
that leadership can change and improve
safety climate and thus reduce injury and
illness in the workplace.
• Leading vs Lagging indicators of Safety?
vs
Safety Culture
• Research has also demonstrated that
safety climate and culture are inversely
correlated with injury and illness rates.
Safety Climate
Injury/Illness & Costs
Improving Safety Climate
Building a Positive Safety Climate:
1. Leadership – Mgt. commitment, priorities,
values, policies, procedures, rewards,
and resources allocated for day to day
actions. Promoting safe work practices,
conditions, health & wellness and
profitability.
Hoffmeister, 2014 and Schwatka, 2014
Improving Safety Climate
2. Employee Involvement – Employee
participation in strategic planning, goals
and objectives, safety, wellness,
production, accident investigations,
innovation, improvement, profitability
Wherever possible!
Hoffmeister, 2014 and Schwatka, 2014
Improving Safety Climate
3. Formal Policies and Procedures – SOPs,
safety rules, orientation, training, annual
reviews, safety inspections, wellness,
productivity levels, discipline and
compliance, rewards, promotion and
more…
Hoffmeister, 2014 and Schwatka, 2014
Improving Safety Climate
4. Training - Topics, needs, safe work
practices, notices, qualifications,
competencies, records, accessible,
participative, and effective…
NA – Development – Implementation - Evaluation
Hoffmeister, 2014 and Schwatka, 2014
Promoting Health and Wellness
Promoting Health and Wellness
Promoting Health and Wellness
Certification
Promoting Safety
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Management Commitment
Hazard Identification/ worksite analysis
Hazard prevention and control
Training for employees
Recordkeeping
Promoting Safety
5% Savings
Loss Prevention
Promoting Safety
Step #1:
Formal Declaration
of a Company-Wide
Loss Prevention
and Loss Control Policy
Promoting Safety
Step #2:
Formal creation of a
Safety Committee
and/or Coordinator
Promoting Safety
Step 3:
Clearly Defined
and Conspicuously
Posted
Safety/Loss
Prevention Rules
Promoting Safety
Step #4:
Safety Awareness
and Loss Prevention
Training
Promoting Safety
Step #5:
A Written Designation
Of Medical Provider
Promoting Safety
Step #6:
Written Policies and
Procedures on
Claims Management
Action
Plan!
CWPCCC Works
• Jim McMillian, MPH, CIH
“Effectiveness Of The Colorado Premium
Cost Containment Program”
– Overall findings showed that companies
that have maintained certification status
greater than three years were found to
have better results in eight different claims
categories and three different rate
measurements.
Case Studies
Climax Portable
Machine Tools, Inc.,
SAIF Corporation,
Clackamas County, OR
https://healthplans.providence.org/Pages/individuals-and-families.aspx
Motivations
• During times of increased financial
pressure combined with the need to
maximize every employee’s
productivity, rising health care issues
were a primary motivator for the desire
to create a culture of wellness in the
workplace.
https://healthplans.providence.org/Pages/individuals-and-families.aspx
Strategies
In 2010 SAIF initiated Wellness Strategies:
• Health Fairs
• Sponsored team events
• Health screenings
• Promoted weight loss
• Organized fun group activities such as
hikes and healthy potlucks
https://healthplans.providence.org/Pages/individuals-and-families.aspx
Outcomes
Outcomes presentation included these
findings:
• Lost > 600 lbs. among all employees
• For every $1 spent on wellness programs,
an organization can expect to see its
medical costs fall by $3.27 and
absenteeism costs fall by $2.73.
https://healthplans.providence.org/Pages/individuals-and-families.aspx
Case Studies
• Curves and Cleveland Clinic share a
mission of health, wellness, and
prevention, as well as the belief that a
healthy population is more productive and
requires less health care. Together we
have established the Cleveland Clinic
Certification program that is exclusive to
Curves.
http://www.curves.com/corporate-successes
Results
• Integrated wellness program through its
health plan, Curves Completed options a
member available. Cleveland Clinic has
reduced their cost trend. Since 2009, the
Cleveland Clinic Employee Health Plan
has experienced a $75 million dollar cost
avoidance which they believe is because
of their Healthy Choice and Wellness
Initiatives.
Ergonomics
Colorado Case – Pinnacol Assurance
• George Wahl, M.S., CIH, CSP
• 1:17 ROI
Expectations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increased productivity, quality and safety
Increased effective communication
Increased respect for all
Increased health and wellness
Increased worker cohesion and cooperation
Increased work culture
Increased safety culture
Increased profitability
Contact Information
David P. Gilkey, D.C., Ph.D., CPE
Associate Professor and Director, ERHS Undergraduate Education
Certified Professional Ergonomist
Occupational and Environmental Health Section
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Science
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1681
Phone: 970-491-7138 Fax (970) 491-2940
Email: dgilkey@colostate.edu
Carla Lopez del Puerto, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Construction Management
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1584
Phone: (970) 491-7960; Fax (970) 491-2473
Email: carlalp@cahs.colostate.edu