Improving Your Safety Culture
Waiting until there are too many injuries is too late to realize you have a safety problem! We need to be able to identify the signs of a deteriorating safety culture sooner, and then we need to do something about it!
Signs that Safety Culture is in Trouble!
There are some clear signs that managers should be looking for to raise the alarm bells before injury rates start to increase. Poor safety performance is right around the corner when we start to see increased employee turnover, an increase in absenteeism, a drop off in voluntary efforts, or an increase in preventable errors and near misses. Operations that have well established standards might also see a slide in 5-S scores or an increase in audit findings. All of these reflect a drop in employee engagement, the required attention to detail, and the clear prioritization of safety in the workplace.
Post-COVID-19 Instability
As we emerged from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, which irreparably altered our workplace cultures, many companies are still coping with labor and supply chain instabilities. These instabilities have forced an increased propensity of management to be reactive – reactive to labor shortages, reactive to not having the raw materials you were planning to have, and reactive to a shortage of transportation for the goods that are ready to ship to customers.
Generally, when we are forced into a mindset of being reactive, we tend to forget our overall priorities. We become so focused on fire-fighting that we will be less deliberate about reinforcing our priorities with our teams. We start sending conflicting messages about what is the most important objective today. While we need to react to the ever-changing dynamics of day-to-day operations, we need to recognize that our teams depend on us to send a consistent message as to what is important.
When asked, ‘what is your highest priority,’ most manufacturing or distribution managers and supervisors will very quickly answer ‘safety.’ But are YOU demonstrating that priority to your team? Do they really feel that commitment from you, or are you so buried in the fire-fights du jour that they are now getting mixed messages? Perhaps in your reactive sprints across the manufacturing floor, you’re so distracted that you aren’t even really seeing what is happening around you. It’s time to refocus and ensure that the safety priority is clear!
Safety Improvement is First About Leadership
YOUR leadership is required to refocus your team on the safety priority. This is not a once-and-done email or announcement, this needs to become a way of daily life! If safety is truly your priority, then your ‘Leader Standard Work’ must reflect that priority. Are you making time every day to demonstrate your commitment to safety? To reinforcing workplace standards like 5-S or PPE compliance?
Many leaders in the post-COVID reality need to hit the reset button. We need to recognize that the last three plus years have been abnormal and that we need to get our workplaces back to focusing on the right priorities.
How to Improve Safety Culture
1.Start by drawing a deliberate line in the sand
Acknowledge that the safety culture isn’t where it needs to be and that YOU recognize that a change in leadership behavior, starting with YOU, is needed. The past is the past, we cannot change it. Announce to the team that YOU are recommitted to safety and that you will expect each Supervisor and team member to be committed as well. Note that you aren’t blaming anyone nor making any excuses. You are simply making it clear that the need for change NOW is clear. You can likely expect some incredulous glances or muttered comments from your audience at this point. It’s a starting point and you need to prove to them you’re serious before they will buy-in.
2. Talk transparently with your team about what a good safety culture looks like
Remember that culture can be defined as the behavior that we promote and tolerate through our leadership words, actions, silence, and inaction. Brainstorm what leadership actions can be taken to change the culture.
3. Commit yourself to demonstrating the behaviors that support the right culture – every day!
When you screw up (it will happen), acknowledge, apologize and recommit!
4. Have your team commit to at least one action they can take daily that will have a positive effect on culture.
Hold them to it too!
These steps will get you started. Do not expect an easy journey or a quick turn in culture. The workforce will need to see this change demonstrated over time before they start to feel that management behavior is predictably prioritizing safety. Once that trust starts to build, we will see engagement rising.
For more information on leading safety excellence and leadership development courses offered by Boosting Leadership LLC, click here.
