Leadership Moment--Episode 2: Culture of Safety

A culture of safety is defined as The sum of the efforts of every member of the organization to maintain a safe environment in which participants learn from past mistakes. (Read: COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP)

Mistakes are okay  (I will dig into this in a later posting).  It is ok to make a mistake, and as a leader it is okay to point out the mistakes others make, so long as you do so in the appropriate setting.  When it comes to safety, a culture is key. So how do we allow each other to make safety mistakes while influencing the whole to do the exact opposite?

Before an incident:

• Identify high risk individuals and intervene early.
  
• Emphasize critical thinking.  Encourage team members to address safety concerns before they act and develop a plan to avoid negative outcomes.
  
• Discuss safety with newly hired team members and encourage them to discuss safety concerns openly with their partners and leadership.
  
• Don’t discount “near-events.”  A “near-miss” is still a reportable incident.
  
• Encourage early reporting of safety concerts or incidents, EVEN A “NEAR MISS.”  If team members do not feel safe reporting errors, THEY WON’T.
  

After an incident:

• Investigate the incident fully.  Get written accounts from all parties involved, take as many photos as you can, and document all data available to you.
  
• Have an open and honest dialogue with the team member(s).  You are not a judge.
  
• Follow up.  Ask the team member(s) involved to walk through their actions and openly discuss how they could have made safer decisions in their thought process.
  

It is important to remember that safety related incidents can be embarrassing for the team member(s) involved.  Punitive measures may be necessary but chasitizing or otherwise humiliating an employee, either privately or publicly, will not encourage a culture of safety.  In fact it may discourage communication about safety topics or make them seem taboo all together. As a leader, you must set the tone for the adoption of safety principles.  If you are able to openly and honestly communicate with team members before and after a safety incident, you are using a collaborative approach and you are helping to build a culture of safety.

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