Steps to Safety Culture Excellence

Provides a clear road map to instilling a culture of safety excellence in any organization

Did you know that accidental injury is among the top ten leading causes of death in every age group? With this book as your guide, you'll learn how to help your organization develop, implement, and sustain Safety Culture Excellence, vital for the protection of and improvement in the quality of life for everyone who works there.

STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence is based on the authors' firsthand experience working with international organizations in every major industry that have successfully developed and implemented ongoing cultures of safety excellence. Whether your organization is a small regional firm or a large multinational corporation, you'll find that the STEPS process enables you to instill Safety Culture Excellence within your organization.

STEPS (Strategic Targets for Excellent Performance in Safety) demystifies the process of developing Safety Culture Excellence by breaking it down into small logical, internally led tasks. You'll be guided through a sequence of STEPS that makes it possible to:

• Create a culture of excellence that is reinforced and empowered at every level
• Develop the capability within the culture to identify, prioritize, and solve safety problems and challenges
• Maintain and continuously improve the performance of your organization's safety culture

Although this book is dedicated to safety, the tested and proven STEPS process can be used to promote excellence in any aspect of organizational performance.

By optimizing the safety culture in your organization, you will give the people you work with the skills and knowledge to not only minimize the risk of an on-the-job accident, but also to lead safe, healthy lives outside of work.

INTRODUCTION vii

OTHER WORKS ON SAFETY CULTURE xvii

UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING SAFETY CULTURE xix

MAKING THE DECISION TO PURSUE SAFETY CULTURE EXCELLENCESM* xxix

MILESTONE 1 STRATEGY 1

STEP 1.1 Purpose 5

STEP 1.2 Core Values 6

STEP 1.3 Vision 8

STEP 1.4 Long- and Short-Term Goals 10

STEP 1.5 Objectives 12

STEP 1.6 Marketing 12

STEP 1.7 Initiatives 15

STEP 1.8 Safety Excellence Accountability System 16

STEP 1.9 Identify and Enable Change Agents 20

STEP 1.10 Measure/Adjust 24

STEP 1.11 Continuous Improvement 27

MILESTONE 2 ASSESSMENT 29

STEP 2.1 Evaluation of Existing Safety Initiatives 30

STEP 2.2 Perceptions 31

STEP 2.3 Interviews 37

STEP 2.4 Safety Data Analysis 39

MILESTONE 3 CLARITY 41

STEP 3.1 SET Structure 42

STEP 3.2 SET Strategy Briefing 47

STEP 3.3 SET Clarity Workshop 48

STEP 3.4 STEPS Employee Briefing(s) 57

MILESTONE 4 CLIMATE 63

STEP 4.1 Commitment 65

STEP 4.2 Caring 67

STEP 4.3 Cooperation 68

STEP 4.4 Coaching 70

MILESTONE 5 CHEMISTRY 75

STEP 5.1 Passion 76

STEP 5.2 Focus 78

STEP 5.3 Expectations 80

STEP 5.4 Proactive Accountability 86

STEP 5.5 Reinforcement 87

STEP 5.6 Vulnerability 89

STEP 5.7 Communication 91

STEP 5.8 Measurement 97

STEP 5.9 Trust (The Bonding Agent) 104

MILESTONE 6 CONTROL 107

STEP 6.1 Targeting Safety Improvement 108

STEP 6.2 Taking a Safety-Improvement STEP 111

STEP 6.3 Converting BBS to STEPS 112

STEP 6.4 Motivation 114

MILESTONE 7 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 117

STEP 7.1 Ongoing Safety-Improvement STEPS 118

STEP 7.2 The FILM for a Cultural Snapshot 119

STEP 7.3 Multilevel Support 122

STEP 7.4 Succession Plan for SET 123

STEP 7.5 Onboarding: New-Employee Orientation to STEPS 124

STEP 7.6 Professional Development 125

STEP 7.7 Reassessment 126

CONCLUSION 127

BIBLIOGRAPHY 129

APPENDIX A EXPLANATION OF TERMS 131

APPENDIX B PARETO ANALYSIS WORKSHEET AND INSTRUCTIONS 133

APPENDIX C SELECTING EFFECTIVE MEMBERS FOR SAFETY EXCELLENCE TEAMS 135

APPENDIX D LIST OF VARIABLES RECOMMENDED FOR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORTS 137

APPENDIX E ACTION PLAN FORM 139

APPENDIX F STEPS AUDIT CHECKLIST 141

INDEX 143

TERRY L. MATHIS is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety excellence consulting firm that has pioneered innovative approaches to culture improvement, behavioral strategies, and management of safety since 1993. He is a regular keynote speaker and columnist for safety publications, as well as a strategic advisor to the leaders of many top performing organizations.

SHAWN M. GALLOWAY is President of ProAct Safety. As an international consultant, professional keynote speaker, and strategist, he has helped hundreds of organizations achieve and sustain excellence in safety, culture, and operational performance. He is also the host of the highly acclaimed weekly podcast series, Safety Culture Excellence®, a columnist for several magazines, and advisor to many of the best in safety performance.