Workplace Safety: Culture, Plans, and Actions

The main goal of a safety program is to prevent workplace deaths and injuries, as well as the serious consequences that these events can cause for workers, their families, and employers. Organizations with a strong safety culture that have established comprehensive safety programs, effectively act on them, and monitor their progress are the winners when it comes to workplace safety.

Culture

Workplace safety starts with a strong safety culture, the collection of value and beliefs that employers and employees share in relation to risks in the workplace. Effective leadership is critical because cultural change is complex and hard. Leaders need to embrace the safety agenda and lead the efforts across the overall organization.

Employee engagement is also critical for a safety culture to evolve. Even if leaders are acting as safety role models, a safety culture will not be sustainable without active participation by all members of an organization, and safety will not reach its full potential. As James Reason said, "an ideal safety culture is the engine that drives the system towards the goal of sustaining the maximum resistance towards its operational hazards." Effective safety leadership and employee engagement are that engine's fuel.

Plans and Actions

There are five critical areas that must be addressed for a comprehensive and effective safety approach. They include plans and actions that help the safety engine run without glitches. In this article, we will look at them in the context of NFPA 70E, where the focus is on the safety of employees who are exposed to electrical hazards arising from the use of electricity. But the same approach can used in the context of other hazards, such as combustible dust and others.

The main goal of a safety program is to prevent workplace deaths and injuries, as well as the serious consequences that these events can cause for workers, their families, and employers. Organizations with a strong safety culture that have established comprehensive safety programs, effectively act on them, and monitor their progress are the winners when it comes to workplace safety.

Culture

Workplace safety starts with a strong safety culture, the collection of value and beliefs that employers and employees share in relation to risks in the workplace. Effective leadership is critical because cultural change is complex and hard. Leaders need to embrace the safety agenda and lead the efforts across the overall organization.

Employee engagement is also critical for a safety culture to evolve. Even if leaders are acting as safety role models, a safety culture will not be sustainable without active participation by all members of an organization, and safety will not reach its full potential. As James Reason said, "an ideal safety culture is the engine that drives the system towards the goal of sustaining the maximum resistance towards its operational hazards." Effective safety leadership and employee engagement are that engine's fuel.

Plans and Actions

There are five critical areas that must be addressed for a comprehensive and effective safety approach. They include plans and actions that help the safety engine run without glitches. In this article, we will look at them in the context of NFPA 70E, where the focus is on the safety of employees who are exposed to electrical hazards arising from the use of electricity. But the same approach can used in the context of other hazards, such as combustible dust and others