In this blog we will explore practical strategies for growing and promoting a Health and Safety Culture.

A Health and Safety culture within an organisation is an unseen / invisible phenomenon and it can be difficult to measure, however it creates an atmosphere that can be perceived and felt. The Safety Culture can be good, bad or indifferent and every organisation has one of these characteristics to some degree. Seriously growing and promoting a positive Health and Safety Culture within the organisation is one of the best ways to continuously improve Health and Safety performance.

Fostering a robust Health and Safety Culture is not just a legal requirement but also a moral imperative. A strong Health and Safety Culture ensures the well-being of employees, promotes productivity and enhances the reputation of the organisation.

The term ‘Safety Culture’ first appeared in the 1987 OECD Nuclear Agency Report (INSAG, 1988) on the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Since then, numerous definitions of ‘Safety Culture’ abound in academic safety literature with all of them identifying its importance and significance to an organisation’s ability to manage the safety related aspects of its operations.

The HSE defines a Health and Safety culture as below:

You can have all the safety rules, procedures and controls in place but unless you have positive ‘Safety Culture’ the best and optimum results will not be forthcoming. Although we are not discounting the importance of good quality documentation the human element plays a crucial role in binding the culture together and safety in an organisation should be seen as ‘Everyone’s responsibility’ whereby people are constantly…

• Communicating
• Co-operating
• Collaborating
• Co-ordinating
• Engaging
• Promoting
• Helping

Negative attitudes create negative behaviours and in relation to safety this can be seen only as tick box exercise to do the minimum required or cut corners when no-one is watching. ‘Driving up standards today creates tomorrows norms ‘as Henry Ford so aptly stated, i.e. the safety culture you develop today will impact the type of workplace you create for tomorrow. So, to promote a safe working environment everyone needs to come together as a team and follow the laid-out rules and procedures in order to make the Safety Culture more tangible within the organisation.

So what can we do and how can we grow and promote a positive Health and Safety Culture and how can we change people’s attitudes, values and behaviours? Here a few suggestions.

Management Commitment

Providing good and positive leadership is of paramount importance if safety initiatives are to flourish within an organisation. If your team has a negative attitude towards Health and Safety, then you need to look and understand where things are going wrong and what you need to do to put things right.

It goes without saying that things need to start from the top. As mentioned, safety is everyone’s responsibility this includes the directors, managers, supervisors, operatives and all employees. However senior management/ leaders need to demonstrate their commitment to safety by sending a clear message and lead by example in their actions and decisions for others to follow. If Health and Safety is not on the management meeting’s agenda, then something is not right. Paying lip service and just signing up to a Health and Policy Statement does not make it active.

Senior Management should and need to lead the way in Health and Safety. What’s more Safety should be treated as a value in an organisation not as a priority. Values are permanent and are not compromised upon, whereas priorities move up and down. It’s this type of attitude from the top that should permeate the rest of the organisation.

Visible Leadership

Once you have committed to growing and promoting a positive Health and Safety Culture your team/ employees need to see that you are putting your money where your mouth is. They need to see that commitment is clearly demonstrated.

It’s not just about wearing your PPE or following the rules. It’s also about enforcing the rules and dealing with safety issues on a proactive basis as and when they occur. And again, this should come from the top down. Senior management need to show an active involvement in managing the Health and Safety issues and show that they care about their safety duties to their employees.

As a leader If you disregard health and safety rules and act like they don’t apply to you, your employees will follow that example. Or maybe they don’t see why they should follow the rules if you don’t. If you put rules in place but don’t follow through by providing the controls needed or enforcing them then people won’t take the rules seriously. If you say ‘safety first’ but bend the rules when there is a deadline approaching, you undermine your own message and the culture. Afterall there is a huge difference in saying something and doing it.

So leadership needs to come from the top, follow the rules and follow through on what you say. Here are some suggestions.

• Start out with Safety Moments in your meetings
• Include Health and Safety as the most important agenda item at your meetings
• Engage and collaborate and talk /discuss Health and Safety
• Carry out Inspections and audits
• Take incidents seriously and manage them proactively.
• Ensure your risk assessments are up to date for your work activities
• Monitor and measure Health and Safety performance

Good Communication

Those businesses that have a positive Health and Safety Culture, Health and Safety is discussed at all levels within the organisation.

Since Health and Safety is everyone’s responsibility your health and safety culture and the performance are the combined efforts of everyone concerned. If just one person doesn’t get the message or feels like the rules don’t apply to them, it can damage the health and safety culture of the entire organisation. You are only as good as your weakest link so it’s important the message is clear, and everyone sings from the same hymn sheet.

Plan regular discussions, safety meetings, briefings, and toolbox talks. Discuss health and safety at management meetings. Discuss it during workplace walkarounds. Use every opportunity to engage people, to deliver the message, and to get feedback.

• Maintain a clear Health and Safety policy
• Communicate rules and procedures
• Make sure procedures are simple, clear and user friendly
• Include Health and Safety in meetings at all levels
• Regularly discuss Health and Safety issues
• Ensure policies are regularly reviewed and updated

Involvement of Employees

Needless to say, to grow and promote a positive health and safety culture people need to be involved. When you engage your employees and get there buy in, increase participation, respect their feedback for improvement you ultimately empower them. They feel important and very much part of the effort of creating rules and procedures and therefore will take ownership for any related initiatives. Employees shouldn’t be made to feel that Health and Safety is being forced upon them, but they should feel equally responsible for maintaining a safe working environment.

Training and Education

Provide comprehensive training and education to employees on the health and safety topics relevant to their roles and responsibilities. Offer refresher courses, toolbox talks and safety briefings to reinforce key concepts and promote a culture of continuous learning.

Risk Assessment and Management

Conduct regular risk assessments of the workplace to identify potential hazards and assess the associated risks. Implement control measures to mitigate identified risks and ensure that employees are aware and adhere to the safety protocols.

Promoting reporting and Feedback

Encourage employees to report near misses, incidents, hazards and use the information gathered to identify trends, root causes and opportunities for improvement.

Continuous Growth

Building a positive Health and Safety Culture does not happen overnight. It’s a continuous journey which takes time and patience to fully mature and maintain. As we have observed growing and promoting a strong Health and Safety Culture requires dedication, leadership and active participation from all levels of the organisation. However, a Health and Safety culture can easily be damaged if bad practices are not dealt with and allowed to a creep in.

To keep growing one must keep on top of the fundamentals. This includes:

• Ensure Safety is everyone’s responsibility
• Train your staff in Health and Safety
• Investigate all incidents/ accidents and problems
• Act on recommendations form incident reports
• Learn from mistakes and avoid repeated mistakes
• Monitor and measure your performance

By following the right strategies and embracing a proactive approach you will be able to create a safer and healthier workplace for employees whilst also achieving the regulatory compliance necessary.

This article was written by Kamran Qureshi who is a Chartered Health and Safety Professional and has over 25 years of experience in Construction Health and Safety.w risk assessment- or at least review your current one.

Reasons for this can include:

• Changes in legislation
• Significant changes in the activity/ task
• Improvements anyone has made to the process.
• Problems/ issues arising from the activity/task.
• Accident or near misses that indicates the controls may not be working.

When reviewing risk assessments, there are also other factors to consider:

• As Health and Safety law is always evolving new regulations come into force and old regulations are updated and removed. Changes in Health and Safety regulations occur twice a year and you need to be mindful of new ways of working, tighter controls and new knowledge.

• Continuous near miss incidents may alert you to a problem with the task/ activity. It could be that one the control measures is not working in the manner it was initially proposed. There could a requirement for further training to carry out the work in the right way.

Needless to say, if risk levels change significantly or if the existing risk assessment is no longer suitable and sufficient, then this would necessitate the need for a new risk assessment to be carried out.

This article was written by Kamran Qureshi who is a Chartered Health and Safety Professional and has over 25 years of experience in Construction Health and Safety.