Safety Culture Plus

As I read this article, it made me think of how it applies to a safety safety culture.  Read the article and let me know what you think.

5 Steps to Developing a Tiger Like Attitude
By Ron Pereira
Tiger Woods. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” -Thomas Jefferson. Since watching and reading about the greatness that is …
Lean Six Sigma Academy – http://lssacademy.com

Several post earlier, I discussed Why process improvement fail.  This article is a great message to show that a process is a process, not matter what environment you are in.

TechRepublic – Louisville,KY,USA
A great deal of effort and resources have been invested in process improvement–whether TQM, CMMI, Six Sigma, ISO 9001, etc–throughout the years.

In the last post I ask, Safety a Priority. Now let’s look at the word VALUE. If we say that Safety is a Value, what does this mean? The dictionary defines VALUE as a principle, standard or quality considered worthwhile or desirable: a family value. The dictionary defines a priority as a precedence established by order of importance or urgency. Which should you chose?

If you use the VALUE definition, you are sending a message that safety is important and will not be compromised. As the business needs change, so will the needs and focus of safety. However, as a value it will always be present. Another good question that should be considered is: why does a company need a Safety program? Is it because OSHA requires it or do you just want to the right thing? The basic purpose of any safety program is to help prevent injuries.

(more…)

Safety professionals use and promote the term "Culture" or "Paradigm shift" (An example that serves as a pattern or model) as the way to promote long-term reductions of injuries. For example, one safety vision for the safety culture may be "Safety should be integrated in the culture of every workplace”. On the surface, this sounds like a great vision statement, but what does it mean? You should ask: What is a Safety Culture and how do we define it? In general, a Safety Culture can be viewed in several ways:

• Safety must be integrated into every aspect of a business just like quality and production
• Everyone in the organization must understand and believe that they have a right to work safely
• Everyone must accept personal responsibility for making sure that they protect themselves and their co-workers
• Safety is considered a value in the organization, not a priority

(more…)