5 Things You Can Do to Build Your Safety Culture That Don’t Cost Anything  
Joe Rock, Safety & Risk Management Council   5-2019

I’ll admit the title may be slightly misleading, as we all know that any action or process takes time and time equals money. However, if you consider for a moment that the major players in the construction industry spend millions of dollars every year on their safety programs, the suggestions really do have minimal cost. This article is addressed to the leaders and decision makers in your company. If that’s you, great! If not, there are still concepts outlined below that you can implement. Let’s jump right in!

1. Ask your people to work safely. Too simple, right? But when was the last time you had a sincere, heart-felt conversation with your workforce to explain that getting them home safely is your primary goal, and thus, your expectation is that they conduct their work in the safest manner possible? Our workforce wants to do a good job. Make sure they understand that the most important part of “doing a good job” is doing the job safely. In a company with a vibrant safety culture, safety of people comes first and is the primary consideration.

2. Visit your job sites (and quickly resolve safety issues observed). Nothing demonstrates care and concern more than the pres­ence of executive leadership on a job site; talking to the workforce and observing working conditions. Walk the job from top to bottom. Ask about concerns. Our workers are truly the experts on how work is done, and understand that a task is not always textbook. Get a feel for employee morale and resolve safety issues before leaving the job site if possible. Swift and effective action to eliminate safety hazards will instill confidence, improve morale and productivity, and ultimately increase profitability. The most important component of an effective safety culture is top management’s genuine commitment to safety.

3. Pre-plan work with an emphasis on hazard identification and elimination. Do estimators and project managers consider potential safety hazards as they put together bids and buy out the job? If “no”, I suggest you make safety just as important in those processes as well. Ask safety-related questions as part of the bid and planning processes: “Work in the right-of-way?” “Proximity to overhead or underground utilities?” “Fall protection concerns?” A major safety issue discovered the first day on site puts everyone in a tough spot. Once you mobilize, make sure superintendents and foremen know they are responsible to identify and eliminate hazards. The ability to anticipate and eliminate potential hazards is a skill field leaders must develop to move the company towards a world-class safety culture.

4. Hire people who value safety and hold them accountable. Your leaders must understand that they are responsible for the safety of those they lead, and that your expectation is that they care for the workers entrusted to them as they would their own family. Holding people accountable doesn’t necessarily mean firing them when someone misses the mark in terms of safety. It does mean honest conversation. Recognize and promote those in the organization who demonstrate safety excellence and those behaviors will be repeated.

5. Establish a Safety Leader and support him or her. Regardless of the size of the company, there should be at least one influ­ential person whose job it is to champion safety. Although the Safety Leader doesn’t need to be a safety professional, they must be well-respected, have excellent communication and leadership skills, and have the authority to impact all aspects of the busi­ness (either directly or indirectly through the support of executive leadership). Safety must have a seat at the table along with the other critical aspects of the business. A dedicated and genuinely committed Safety Leader can make a huge difference.

Establishing a positive safety culture where working incident and injury free is everyone’s primary focus is hard work. Executive leadership and management are the key components of any effective safety program. I hope the suggestions above are helpful in moving your company forward. If you find your team struggling, please reach out to an experienced safety professional. Changing our safety culture for the better is what we do!