By Brian Fielkow, author and accident prevention expert
While it is important to understand the warning signs indicating a workplace accident is imminent, that is only the first step in addressing accident prevention. Prevent accidents in the future by creating a culture of safety – beginning with a leadership team that encourages incident reporting, resists assigning blame and communicates the importance of safety practices.
1. The near miss: Whether an accident is severe or not is a function of luck. Near misses and close calls often don’t get much attention; however, having no accidents that qualify as OSHA recordable – while still having plenty of accidents/injuries – is not good. Leadership must take an active role in making sure there is a widely understood policy when it comes to reporting near misses. Leaders also have to be sure there is absolutely no retribution for reporting a near miss, because the first time someone is punished that is the last time a report will be made. Lead by example. Safety will never take hold in an organization if it’s delegated instead of being owned by leadership.
2. Playing the blame game: When an accident occurs, too many people scramble to assign fault – and then let the finger pointing be the beginning and end of the inquiry. A culture of blame will not yield a culture of prevention. After every accident, no matter how minor, a root cause analysis should be performed by people who weren’t involved with the incident, allowing them to take a fresh look. The reality is, in most cases, each accident has multiple layers, and one of the biggest failures post-incident is when an organization doesn’t look at the systemic failures involved. Leadership must say, “We’re here to get at the root cause,” while at the same time not allowing an environment where one department blames the other.
3. Communication failure: If employees aren’t reporting signs of trouble – either for fear of retaliation or a “not my department, not my problem” mindset – it’s a sure way of setting the business up for an accident. The job of leadership is to be sure safety is a priority that is communicated effectively, not allowing teams to function in silos with a “safety is not my responsibility” mentality. A company-wide culture must be created – starting with leadership – that ensures all employees know that safety is not a department but a way of life.
4. Cutting corners: Ultimately, a lack of respect for the process, cutting corners or skipping steps are great ways to save time or money – until they don’t. What companies have to understand is that sometimes they may outgrow their processes. What made sense five years ago may not make sense today. Companies must be willing to reevaluate and re-examine those processes, rather than holding employees responsible for following safety procedures that makes no sense in today’s business environment. Leadership also has a responsibility to make sure the processes are understandable, clear and up to date in order to have the best chance to avoid repeating old mistakes. If the process doesn’t make sense, rewrite it. Processes also should be developed, to some extent, by the company’s own team. They’re the ones who know what works best. Once those safety processes have been established, it must be made clear there is zero tolerance for cutting corners.
5. Happy talk: Companies cannot lie to themselves and say everything is fine when it’s not. When a high frequency of accidents is occurring, it’s time to have an honest discussion with their teams to guarantee one of those frequent incidents doesn’t become a big accident. Too often an attitude prevails that “accidents happen, but we’ll be more careful next time” excuses. This goes hand-in-hand with the blame game, and it is incumbent upon management – and everyone else – to put a stop to it. Leadership has to resist the urge to sweep problems under the rug and instead be involved in understanding the root cause of every incident. Accidents typically follow patterns and, if those patterns are only being looked at after a major accident/injury occurs, it’s a missed opportunity to save the company and its employees from future pain.
With more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in both public and privately held companies, Fielkow advises companies big and small on issues of safety, accident prevention and corporate culture. He is the author of several books, including “Leading People Safely: How to Win on the Business Battlefield.” For more information, visit www.brianfielkow.com.
