Culture clash of safety

Differences between good and bad safety cultures, according to Michael Hewitt, vice president, Global Workplace Safety Practice, DuPont.

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By Paul Studebaker, CMRP, Editor in Chief

PlantServices.com

Differences between good and bad safety cultures, according to Michael Hewitt, vice president, Global Workplace Safety Practice, DuPont (http://www2.dupont.com/Consulting_Services/en_US/):

Good culture: Consistently supports safety as a core value (as opposed to a priority) by committing to put human life ahead of all other demands.
Bad culture: Safety is a priority and priorities change. When money becomes tight, safety often takes a back seat.

Good culture: Give employees the right and responsibility to call a time-out and reward them for doing it, even if it’s a false alarm.
Bad culture: Doesn’t support open communication. Personnel might not feel they can call a time-out without fear of reprisal.

Good culture: Management demonstrates and communicates a personal commitment to safety in all of their actions.
Bad culture: Management doesn’t demonstrate or reward safe behaviors. They may engage in at-risk behaviors and tolerate them in others.

Good culture: Elevate personnel who support a culture of safety and eliminate those who tolerate at-risk behaviors, even if those people are top producers.
Bad culture: Promote people based solely on operational performance regardless of whether risks were taken to achieve the outcome.

Good culture: Train people to observe at-risk behaviors and provide effective feedback that motivates a person to change their behavior.
Bad culture: Provide no training or only training focused on technical skills.