There is one common theme in all the facilities I worked at during my time as safety and health manager/director… the employees were the ones who would explain to guests how we achieved the level of safety that set us apart from others. Most guests came to visit thinking they would discover a magic pill that got us from X to Y, what they walked away with was something they never expected. It was not the safety team that presented the “safety process/SMS”, it was the operators, maintenance, engineers, department management, and supervisors who proudly presented all that had been done over the years that allowed the facility/company to achieve injury rates below 1.0. They were more than just “participants” in the process; they OWNED their safety process/SMS and took pride in the process and its results. The safety pros simply provided the knowledge and expertise to guide these teams to world-class safety.
But it was the journey where so many lessons were learned that allowed management to recognize weaknesses that needed to be strengthened in order to achieve such lofty goals. It was a desire to be the best of the best, not by some injury rate, but by ensuring the safety process had integrity and credibility, regardless of the lack of results early on in the journey. In fact, on every journey I participated in, we see the injury rate(s) INCREASE early in the journey. For some lesser committed teams, this could be disastrous; but for those truly committed to implementing a world-class safety process/SMS that will generate AND SUSTAIN world-class performance, it is merely an expected “bump in the road”. With this comes a belief (and confidence) that what is needed is MORE of:
- Hazard Identification
- Analyzing those Hazards
- Assessing the Risk those hazards pose, and
- Mitigating those risks down to a level the workforce finds acceptable
The courage to look harder to find more hazards that come with injury/illness potential takes a lot of fortitude and one hell of a commitment from senior management. But with it, the men and women who do the dirty and dangerous work will take the helm and do the work to make their workplace better. Doing it alongside their managers and supervisors as a TEAM just builds and strengthens relationships, which builds TRUST and CREDIBILITY in the safety process/SMS.
All of this takes a lot of training and education; but with the commitment of senior management, this training and education allows for the ownership of safety to shift from the “safety team” to others who are driving the ship. This is the true measure of world-class safety! When the safety pros are just there to feed the fire and provide subject matter expertise, that is the real destination – not some injury rate. The injury rate will of course reflect this effort, but it is NOT a measure of success. The real measure of success is the transfer of OWNERSHIP of safety and the pride the workforce has in their hard work to reach this level of maturity.