#021: How To Create A Safety Culture
The Construction Leading Edge Podcast · Todd Dawalt
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Show Notes
Culture: noun cul·ture \ˈkəl-chər\ A blend of the values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals, and myths a company develops over time. Whether written as a mission statement, spoken or merely understood, corporate culture describes and governs the ways a company’s owners and employees think, feel and act.
Does your company have a safety program or a safety culture?
What’s the difference? One requires constant maintenance and enforcement and the other tends to take care of itself.
Keys to creating a construction safety culture:1. Safety can NOT be a priority.
2. Safety must become a value or a conviction, neither of which will be shuffled like a priority.
3. Change the mindset about who is responsible for safety.
4. Develop “small unit cohesion.”
Some practical things you can do to create a safety culture:1. Reward safe behavior on the spot.
2. Reward safety innovation.
3. Gather the crew – and their families – outside of work.
4. Engage the crew on how to solve safety problems. Ask questions instead of prescribing policy.
5. There are a few others in the podcast.
Listen to the podcast to hear a few other strategies for developing a safety culture, and some steps around how to respond to a safety violation.