Notes

The Benefits of Creating a Safety-Aware Environment in the Workplace
Introduction:
Safety in the workplace is undergoing change: evolving from an optional extra to a compliance necessity, firms are actually increasingly recognizing the countless great things about developing, and committing to, a strong safety culture. These range between increased staff morale and increased productivity, to reduced injury-related costs, competitive insurance premiums and improved turnover profits and reputation.

However, encouraging a culture of safety involves a lot more than mere lip service. Safety-orientated values, long-term commitments to firm-wide safety, and consistent concrete actions will determine which organisations will reap the rewards of fabricating and maintaining a highly effective safety culture.

What is meant by a "Safety Culture", and why is it important?

Safety at work saves lives; it also saves money. Based on the 2013 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, US businesses lose more than a billion dollars weekly in compensation costs arising from the 10 most typical workplace injuries and illnesses - incidents that could be prevented with proper safety precautions in place. These figures do not take into account the associated productivity losses and administrative expenses, which are estimated to total a further $120 billion, annually.

Too often, safety in the workplace is regarded as an expensive option, and the expense of implementing a highly effective and comprehensive safety policy becomes the firm's overriding concern. However, the expenses to an organization of not developing and nurturing a positive safety culture are high in many regards. An unhealthy safety record will result in the next knock-on effects:

? Higher insurance premiums
? Lost productivity
? Higher injury and illness rates
? Expense of replacing injured / ill workers
? Expense of high staff turnover
? Compensation and legal costs
? Damaged employee morale
? Cost of replacing damaged property

Furthermore, not only will an organisation's profits / turnover suffer, but also its reputation - the cost of that is largely unquantifiable.

So what is meant by way of a "Safety Culture"?

A culture of safety in an organisation is one where safety at work is intrinsic in the values and standards of the firm. However, it isn't enough for the organisation to carry specific values; these must manifest themselves in the words the organisation uses, in addition to in the actions it requires.

The principles held need to be properly and consistently communicated to staff. What used, Rope Access Specialists Church End as the tone, will impress upon all personnel how seriously management takes safety in the workplace. Staff members will always take their cue from the managerial communication they receive, overt or otherwise; if they are consistently positive and supportive, the foundations of a confident safety culture will undoubtedly be laid.

Much like any situation, however, actions speak louder then words. Any actions, however small, which decision-makers or managers take to encourage, promote or support safety at work will have a positive knock-on influence on all personnel. (As a corollary, positive verbal communication will have little impact if it is not backed up by similarly positive actions.) The most effective actions which senior staff members can take are those which overtly reward safety-oriented behaviour in others. This, more than anything, will send a message of the significance of safety to the organisation.

Altogether, a firm's safety culture is a combination of its values, communications and, most importantly, its actions.

Developing your Firm's Safety Culture
All firms have a safety culture - however, not absolutely all have a positive one. Before you take steps to build up your firms, you must determine what sort of safety culture has already been in place.

Identify Your Own Culture
The first step is to communicate with the personnel tasked with the organisation's safety - the correct manager or consultant. This can give feedback on what the firm would ideally wish its values to be. The truth, however, could be quite different, and may only be assessed from the bottom up: by communicating with all workers, and identifying their perceptions of the organisation's safety culture.

One of the efficient and comprehensive method of communicating with an employee about its safety culture would be to develop and circulate questionnaires. To make sure honesty and candidness, any such questionnaire should be stated to be anonymous, clear of negative consequences, and become aiming to act positively on the info gathered.

In addition, a questionnaire should address a broad selection of safety culture indicators; as a guide, one of the leaders in Safety Culture, Dan Petersen, identified 20 safety management categories, including: Attitude Towards Safety, Inspections, Employee Training, Supervisor Training, Involvement of Employees, and Operating Procedures. Such categories are worth considering as a guide when developing or reviewing questionnaires.

Having determined how strong - or otherwise - your organisation's safety culture is, you can then take stock and design an idea for moving ahead. If your firm has a weak culture, then your first steps to take are to liaise with senior management to recognize the firm's policy. As a safety officer, you may initially be met with resistance, usually with regards to the perceived cost of implementation. A few of the costs and effects of a failure to develop a solid safety culture have already been set out above, and really should be communicated as necessary.

Develop and ENHANCE YOUR Firm's Culture
Irrespective of your organisation's existing position, there are many steps that may be taken to improve a firm's culture. Obviously, all action taken should think about the organisation's industry, size and structure, but below are a few examples of actions that may apply regardless of such confines:

? Involve Your Staff
The simplest way to create a strong safety culture is to involve all personnel. Empowering staff sends the message that their role in the success of the firm is crucial, and plays a significant role in encouraging staff morale and pride. Staff can be involved in an array of ways, from providing feedback on firm policies, having a safety liaison officer, creating a safety committee, or developing plans pertinent to specific departments.

? Operate from the Top Down
The ultimate way to ensure safe behaviour in the task place is to own it mirrored from management. Any safety policy implemented needs to be demonstrated by senior management and decision makers.

? Introduce a Mentor Programme
A safety mentor programme is an effective method of introducing new workers to the safety culture. In addition to creating positive expectations from existing workers, it generates role models for incoming staff to check out.

? Implement Effective Training
Training itself isn't sufficient: it should be effective. To this end it ought to be:
Comprehensive enough - an excessive amount of information at once is more likely to be forgotten;
Ongoing - one-off training isn't enough. To demonstrate a real commitment to safety, training needs to be regular and periodic;
Flexible - effective training will be able to accommodate all degrees of audience;
Relevant - tailor each training session in line with the appropriate department; and
Organic - it should "grow" with the workers.

? Diarise Safety Reviews
To be fully effective, a safety programme also needs to incorporate regular reviews. It really is worth, therefore, considering periodic meetings to go over and review safety, looking not only at internal issues and incidents, but additionally to go over any relevant matters which have occurred within the industry which could impact on safety in your firm.

? Display Your Safety Message
Visibility is key in developing a culture. Publicising your values tells your staff that you are serious about, and committed to, your safety culture.

? Recognize and Encourage Positive Action
Ways of doing this include developing a periodic Safety Worker award, publicizing positive safety actions across the firm or even the, or implementing smaller, less formal methods to highlight within the organisation steps taken by individuals.

? Communicate Effectively
Finally, it is not enough for an organisation's management to communicate its values and ideas; effective communication should be a two-way event. To ensure a strong safety culture, an organisation must listen to its staff, and create the channels for effective two-way communication. Safety requires the input of all workers, and a safety culture must explicitly embrace and include all members of the organisation.


The Role of Safety Management Systems

Safety Management Systems are, deservedly, rising in popularity, as organisations recognize that safety at work is not only a compliance issue, but additionally a matter of effective risk management.

When married with positive safety-based values, effective communication and progressive actions, an SMS is an essential safety tool, fundamental for measuring safety, and assessing the organisation's improvement. It enables staff members to quickly and easily communicate policies and actions, and to implement and achieve safety goals. Moreover, an easy system will highlight safety hazards and risks, facilitating preventative measures, and supporting risk management.

In addition, the implementation of an SMS is really a concrete opportinity for an organisation to show both its investment in, and commitment to, a confident, strong safety culture.

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