New Approaches to Establishing a Safety

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• New Approaches to Establishing a Safety
• Culture Orientation in the Workplace

Maureen C. Shaw, President CEO IAPA (Industrial
Accident Prevention Association) 207 Queens Quay
West, Suite 550 Toronto, Ontario M5J 2Y3
www.iapa.ca
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Marc Shaw
Injury Survivor
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What is Culture?

• A way of life, the sum total on ones
  philosophy, beliefs, norms, values, morals,
  habits, customs, arts and literature

Aviel 1990
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According to Edgar Schein, in his book The
Corporate Culture Survival Guide Sense and
Nonsense About Culture Change.

• Culture is always a group phenomenon, a product
  of social learning. It is essentially that
  unconscious and invisible set of forces that
  determines both the individual and collective
  behaviour of a group it consists of shared
  perceptions, thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
  Workplace Culture encompasses shared thought
  patterns and is the ultimate source of values
  the way we do things around here
• The most important mechanism through which
  leaders create culture and embed culture is
  through the leaders own behaviour walking the
  talk
• Employees pay more attention to the walk rather
  than the talk

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NASAs Cultural Flaws Jim Fisher
How is the space agency ensuring the safety of
future mission and their crews?

• NASAs engineers will have reassuring answers to
  the mechanical risks and, looking deeply into the
  agencys organizational structure, processes and
  stated policies, the high priority on safety is
  clear
• If NASA has the scientific and operational
  processes right, are the astronauts safe?
• To be sure, signs of a healthy organization must
  also be evident a culture that promotes open
  enquiry, that lacks group think, and that values
  such human traits as instinct and intuition as
  much as detached engineering science

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NASAs Cultural Flaws contd

• In the two weeks between launch and re-entry,
  NASA experienced a massive internal communication
  collapse for such astonishingly pedestrian
  reasons as emails that went unanswered
• In both the Challenger and Columbia cases,
  individuals recognized potential problems and
  reported them
• But in neither instance, and in spite of NASAs
  stated culture of safety first, could they induce
  management to act. A clear case of institutional
  failure
• NASA had all the silent killers of collaboration
  silos, a hierarchy of fear, values that lacked
  clarity, and little vertical communication

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NASAs Cultural Flaws contd

• Everything about the response suggests NASA has
  put culture on the task list and is proceeding
  as if it is something that can be changed as
  easily as making revisions to a flight manual
• NASA reveals its naivety and the ugly truth that
  it remains an engineering organization that
  doesnt understand much about humanity
• Reforming culture in NASA complex, established,
  geographically dispersed and fiscally stretched
  is a massive assignment, requiring substantial
  doses of creativity and patience. The art of
  leadership

Jim Fisher is an associate dean, and professor of
strategic management at the University of
Torontos Rothman School of Management The
Toronto Star, July 13, 2005
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Unless commitment is made, there are only
promises and hopes but no plans. Peter
Drucker
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Safety Culture

• Safety culture is not merely a companys safety
  program, policies and procedures it is the
  incorporation of safety into the informal and
  formal parts of the company safety must be
  integrated into every aspect of a companys way
  of doing business
• Safety requires strong commitment from a
  companys leadership leadership must
  continuously show that working in a safe manner
  and maintaining a safe workplace are core values
• Leadership needs to ensure that the necessary
  support and training are available employ
  effective communication, provide recognition,
  actively gather input and involve employees in
  decision-making, regularly tour the plant, attend
  safety meetings

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• The first responsibility of a leader is to
  define reality.
• The last is to say thank you.
• Max DePree

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• Purpose
• The charter is intended to support the continuous
  improve-ment of healthy and safe workplaces. It
  is founded on the principle that effectively
  managing health, safety and wellness is essential
  to the operation of a successful business.
• Participation in this charter is a visible
  commitment from business leaders to actively
  participate within a learning community that
  provides and receives best practices for the
  enhancement of employee physical, social, and
  mental well-being. The benefits will be realized
  as this learning is integrated into
  organizational business strategies, systems, and
  processes.

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• This is an exciting opportunity for us as leaders
  to take action and work together to achieve
  breakthroughs in health and safety performance
  through partnerships.

The bottom line is that people sharing their
expertise in any area and in any sector leads to
improvement. When you factor in the natural drive
that leaders have to improve their business, then
ultimately performance improvement is very
possible. Good safety performance is good
business as far as I am concerned.
Duncan Hawthorne President CEO Bruce Power
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• Duncan Hawthorne presented his proposal for a CEO
  Charter at the meeting of federal, provincial,
  and territorial ministers responsible for labour
  on January 27 and 28, 2005
• The Charter was launched at IAPAs Health
  Safety Conference 2005 on April 4, 2005
• 50 CEOs and companies have signed the Charter
  with another 18 indicating an interest to
  participate
• Ontario Service Sector Alliance conducted a CEO
  charter workshop for their member firms on June
  9, 2005 approximately 50 CEOs signed or
  committed to sign the charter

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• Benefits
• Participation in the Charter by business leaders
  is a visible commitment to improving health,
  safety and wellness within their workplaces
• It is a visible commitment to the employees in
  those workplaces and it will positively affect
  the organizational culture
• Firms will improve their health safety
  performance by learning from and helping each
  other by sharing, mentoring, and coaching
• The Charter will establish a sustainable platform
  for dialogue at the national level between
  Canadas labour ministers and industry leaders
• Enhance profile of health and safety in
  workplaces in Canada
• Link with the US National Safety Councils CEOs
  Who Get It project

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• The profit paradox companies that exist only to
  produce a profit dont last long. And companies
  that dont pay attention to profits cant exist
  to fulfill their long term purpose. Pursuing
  profits without a higher purpose or pursuing a
  purpose without profit are equally fatal
  strategies.

Jim Clemmer Profits are a Reward, Not a Purpose
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YOUNG AND NEW, INEXPERIENCED WORKERS ARE OVER 5
TIMES MORE LIKELY TO GET HURT THEIR FIRST MONTH
ON THE JOB
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What About The First 4 Weeks?

• First month on any job poses the highest risk for
  all new, inexperienced workers including young
  workers
• For young workers, injuries potentially increase
  the years of disability and the risk of future
  injuries

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Who Is The New, Inexperienced Worker?

• 15-19 yrs age group high school or summer
  student first real job
• 20-24 yrs goes straight to full time job from
  high school
• 25 yrs plus working in an unfamiliar
  environment and doing an unfamiliar job

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Why Are New Workers At Risk?

• Poor hazard perception
• Poor risk perception
• Poor self-assessment of skill
• High acceptance of risk
• Trouble understanding and applying general
  orientation training

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Why Are New Workers At Risk?

• Trouble balancing the key components of the job
• Productivity (how much)
• Quality (how well)
• Safety (behaviours)

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A Positive Safety Climate

• Compliance
• Balance of the key job components productivity,
  quality and safety
• Rewards for good safety practice
• Continuous improvement of safety climate

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Role Of The Supervisor

• Past
• Present
• Future

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Role Of The Supervisor

• During the first 4 weeks, young and new,
  inexperienced workers need
• Department Orientation
• Job-specific hazard training
• On-the-job observation
• On-the-job coaching
• Invest time up front and get the benefits!

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Summary

• Strategies to Reduce Risk during the First 4
  Weeks
• A positive safety climate to reduce high
  acceptance of risk
• The supervisor as coach
• Department orientation to enlarge hazard scan
• Job-specific training to improve hazard and risk
  perception
• Observation to correct high-risk behaviours
• Coaching to achieve a balance of productivity,
  quality and safety

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• MISSION
• Our mission is to help families heal through a
  community of support and to promote the
  elimination of life altering workplace injuries,
  illness and deaths

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Family Support Program

• Unique one-on-one peer support program
• Managed by Program Manager
• Trains family members to become Volunteer Family
  Guides
• 10-day residential training program
• 8 Ontario Volunteer Family Guides
• Next Training- February 2006

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• Family Support Program (contd)
• Provide National / Regional Forums for families
  and friends to network and share experiences
• Publish a quarterly newsletter that highlights
  key activities and next steps and promotes
  healthy coping skills (over 200 family members on
  distribution list)

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Some of the families of the young workers
commemorated on the LifeQuilt
Alone we can do so little together we can do so
much. Helen Keller
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• In organizations, real power and energy is
  generated through relationships.
• The patterns of relationships and the capacities
  to form them are more important than tasks,
  functions, roles, and position.

Margaret Wheatly Leadership and the New Science
Photo www.town.fort-smith.nt.ca.
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Thank You