HeAlTH & SAFeTY
A Fluke survey identified a gap between the importance of a strong culture of safety and what companies are currently providing.
HOw TO DevelOp A STrONG CUlTUre OF SAFeTY
In this article, Sean Silvey, Fluke Corporation, highlights three areas that employers can focus on when helping workers to establish a strong safety climate.
same electrical workers believe that less than half of all companies have a strong safety culture, according to a 2020 Fluke survey. So, how do companies close that gap? They
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build and sustain a strong culture of safety. But building a culture around safety is not an easy feat. The safety culture is an overarching
early 100 per cent of electrical workers believe a strong culture of safety is important to keep them safe. Yet, those
pillar of the company’s culture –hard to influence or change. instead, start by creating a positive climate of
safety, recommends Chuck pettinger, ph.D., a safety expert at predictive Solutions. This will lead to a culture of safety over time as the work toward a climate of safety is done on a daily basis. when a strong climate of safety is reached, the gap will close and help the culture of safety continue to develop over years.
Tracking metrics focused around injuries or incidents can harm the work toward creating a strong culture of safety.
“Culture is more of an ambiguous way that we
describe what a company is doing,” says pettinger. “Culture is something that's very hard to manipulate or impact. it's something that can take three to five to ten years to change. But, if we influence the climate in a positive (or negative) way, over time it can influence the culture itself.”
How to develop a ClImate oF SaFety pettinger believes that communication is the key to a strong climate of safety. The way safety is communicated - from the top down - makes all the difference. Here are the three main aspects of communication to adjust now to start seeing a positive change in your safety climate.
1 metrICS
injury tracking is a common barometer most companies use for evaluating the success of their safety campaigns. But tracking injury rate or days since the last incident only erodes any other actions toward creating a climate of safety. “if you have any [visual injury tracking
mechanisms] in your companies, i would rip them out,” says pettinger. “They're sending the wrong message.” instead of influencing workers to take the time to be safe, injury trackers pressure workers to avoid reporting incidents. it drives any climate of safety underground and creates a
30 April 2021 | FACTOrY&HANDliNGSOlUTiONS
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