Safety Culture Excellence

Greetings recording on the road in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This week I’d like to share with you the details of a highly requested workshop. We have been delivering this workshop privately for companies since January 2002. This approach to Behavior-Based Safety has proven to be the most successful in the industry at both short and long-term results.  This workshop will train participants to utilize ProAct Safety’s Lean BBS® methodologies for facilitating an implementation or improving existing processes. Most importantly, it will prepare the consultants to anticipate and handle the issues that can challenge the success and sustainability of Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) efforts. 

Participants will also be able to identify opportunities to minimize the perception of change, achieve the quickest success possible, and ensure long-term process sustainability. We have been extremely successful with our Internal Consultant Certification Workshop, which is designed for organizations that desire to internalize and sustain Behavior-Based Safety capabilities. Additionally, ProAct Safety is familiar with all of the major implementation methods and has developed a collection of best practices through our experience with over 1,000 successful Behavior-Based Safety implementations. 

Because of this unique position, we are able to instruct individuals on specific consultative methods to customize & implement Behavior-Based Safety, and attractive but ineffective approaches to avoid. Companies using this path strategy should have highly qualified personnel and sufficient internal resources. ProAct Safety will certify the selected individuals to return to their location and begin designing and implement a customized Behavior-Based Safety process. This approach is not strictly a train-the-trainer course, nor is it intended to teach individuals to simply deliver training on Behavior-Based Safety. 

Every site will have its own unique challenges and cultures. To allow the internal consultants the most opportunities for success, it is extremely important that they understand and internalize the strategies to identify the site-specific variables that have or could become, problematic barriers. What works at one site will not always work at another. Lean BBS® utilizes aspects of performance and quality systems to drastically reduce the typical internal resource requirements of a Behavior-Based Safety process. Lean Behavior-Based Safety focuses on the leveraged use of resources, resulting in better results in a shorter time, less disruption to operations, and less resistance from workers and unions. 

Multiple Programs In Place: Re-energize Your Existing BBS Process Unfortunately, it is common to see the results from many traditional Behavioral Safety processes plateau after the first two to three years of operation. At that point, the process can become routine and lose the original result-based orientation. The successes that motivated the process early-on disappear and the entire process tends to slowly lose momentum. Successful Behavior-Based Safety processes do not typically fade away, but can be much less effective than they are capable of being. This is the perfect time for BBS process improvement. Improvement strategies can accomplish several important objectives:

·         Attain the next step in accident-reduction results through better targeting

·         Increase the level of expertise in the personnel active in the process

·         Provide new techniques to the observation and data analysis strategies

·         Re-energize the process utilizing Lean BBS® techniques to improve results and increase employee participation

·         Reduce resource requirements to maintain the process

·         Assess the existing Behavior-Based Safety process for foundations to build on

·         Make more efficient use of site leaders and steering teams

·         Narrow the focus of the checklist to improve efficiency

·         Focus observations where they will produce the best results

·         Learn tactics for continuous process improvement to ensure process sustainability

For a list of the dates, cost and materials that will be provided, please visit our website at www.ProActSafety.com I’d like to close with this, if you only have time to do one thing in safety today, what would it be and how will it contribute to making this a safer world for us all? Thanks for tuning in.

Shawn Galloway

ProAct Safety

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We are excited to announce the dates for ProAct Safety’s 2010 Annual Conference! I’m sure you are busy, so I hope you will please take some time to mark your calendar!

ProAct Safety’s Annual Conference

6 - 8 April 2010

Houston, TX

http://www.proactsafety.com/upcomingevents

Based on feedback from previous conferences and over a thousand attendees, we are yet again enhancing the personal experience. 

We are also changing the venue to be closer to the Houston Airport (IAH). The event will be held in a full-service hotel with complimentary shuttle service (so no rental car needed). As always we will continue to work hard to ensure new value, while decreasing the travel expenses.

We hope you know we are here to support you in your efforts to reach and sustain safety culture excellence. There will be more information provided on this event over the next few months. In the meantime, please take advantage of our self-help resources listed below.   If you would like to sign-up to receive updates on this and other self-help safety ideas, please visit: http://www.proactsafety.com/subscribetonewsletter

See you in April 2010

Shawn M. Galloway

ProAct Safety

Greetings recording on the road this week in Cleveland, Ohio where Terry and I are leading some advanced safety public workshops. Last week while working in Omaha Nebraska I was interviewed by the host of Leadership-Action.com, Greg Krieser.  Greg states on the site that “Leadership-Action came about through the study and application of various leadership principles.” He interviews several leaders in different areas and posts the video and audio files on the site for both streaming and download. You can also find Leadership-Action on iTunes. 

I have personally worked with Greg, he is a great guy a fantastic leader as well.  I was honored when he asked to interview me about my thoughts on leadership. This past Friday when we completed some work at his facility, we sat down for the interview.  For the podcast this week, I would like to share that interview with you. If you would like to see the video portion of that site please visit http://leadership-action.com/?p=334 . Greg has some great thoughts on that site and I encourage you to take a look.

Have a great week!

Shawn Galloway

ProAct Safety

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Greetings everyone! Recording this week in Belle Fourche, South Dakota just outside of Sturgis. When asked how long it takes to change a culture, the predominant answer most of our fellow experts provide, is anywhere from five to seven years. Moreover it is often said that it takes time because you have to implement resource intensive methodical change process and lots and lots of patience. From this you will be able to improve and change the safety aspects of a culture. Well, perhaps if you want to completely change every element of your culture, it could take quite a while, that is true. In this podcast we would like to offer some suggestions of how to go out and have a fast positive impact on and within your safety culture. 

Now consider we are not talking about bad to perfect overnight. We are also not talking about band aid fixes or Hawthorne flashes in the pan. We are talking about getting turned around and facing the right direction and making progress in the direction in a relatively short amount of time. The business realities of today’s world dictate a results oriented approach to change. Respectfully, most business leaders do not have the luxury to recognize a return on investment after patiently waiting for multiple years. I have personally seen multiple sites experience dramatic improvements in both performance and culture within 6 months. Then sustain that improvement and success-seeking mentality, by developing cultural systems to do just that, sustain! If you think about it, early successes themselves creates the drive for continuous improvement, not programs. Programs after programs have effectively created the program of the month perception. Success after success creates what we are after, what we call a Results Driven Change Philosophy. 

There is nothing wrong with the models of positive change over multiple years to create new cultural norms. We just think they need to be tweaked to fit the business realities. So today we would like to share with you what we have been using in practice in over a thousand projects to experience FAST culture and safety improvement.  FAST is an acronym that stands for: Focus, Architectural Structure, Skills of Interpersonal Communication and Transformational Results Orientation. When we look at cultures we often find these four elements are lacking. This is the topic of the podcast this week.  I hope you enjoy!

Have a great week!

Shawn M. Galloway

ProAct Safety, Inc.

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Greetings recording this podcast in Atlanta, Georgia. I’d like to share with you some information about an upcoming event. We are holding a public workshop titled “Safety Culture Excellence Seminar”. These are events that we have been holding privately for organizations for many years. After the request of many, we have decided to take these events on the road and open them for the public. This will be a three day series held at locations around the world, however you do not need to participate in all three days, you can pick and choose from the three different topics if you would like. 

Day 1 will be Advanced Tactics for Behavior-Based Safety: Applying Lean Principles and Ensuring Results.  This session will enable participants to create a customized plan, using the latest Lean Behavior-Based Safety (Lean BBS®) Technologies for spearheading safety process improvement. Lean Behavior-Based Safety is based on the philosophy of achieving faster accident reductions with the minimum internal resources and external cost requirements, ultimately achieving a more sustainable internalized continuous improvement process. Borrowing proven techniques from Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and experiences from over 1,000 successful implementations; Lean Behavior-Based Safety has proven to be the most efficient and practical approach to an already effective theoretical process. Utilizing the best of your existing Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) process, your site or committee leaders will explore the options and learn the lean techniques that will successfully breathe new life and efficiency into the existing structure.

Day 2 will be Leadership Safety Coaching: Teaching Your Supervisors to be Safety Coaches. This seminar will give managers and supervisors the background and tools to become effective safety coaches. They will learn how to focus workers on the most effective accident-prevention strategies, discover and manage influences on workplace behaviors, measure the progress of cultural changes, and coach and counsel effectively to address safety-related behavioral issues with workers. The use of these skills will greatly improve safety, but more importantly will, make managers and supervisors more effective in all dealings with workers and each other.

Day 3 will be Assessing and Developing Your Safety Culture:  This session will enable participants to create a customized plan to assess and improve site and/or organizational safety culture. Common myths about safety culture will be dispelled and a good working definition will be developed to empower understanding and customization. Assessment methodologies will be discussed and compared and each participant will see how to best determine the cultural strengths and improvement opportunities. Based on the assessment findings, plans will be formulated to find the most practical and effective strategies to build on cultural strengths and address weaknesses. Opportunities will be investigated to utilize other site improvement initiatives to aid in the cultural improvement plans. All plans will conclude with measurement strategies to ensure long-term change viability and early identification of problems. 

If you are interested in participating in one of these events please visit www.ProActSafety.com and click on events for the schedule.  I’d like to close with this, if you only have time to do one thing in safety today, what would it be and how will it contribute to making this a safer world for us all? Thanks for tuning in…

Shawn Galloway

ProAct Safety

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Greetings! Recording this podcast in Denver, Colorado. Welcome to episode 100! In this special edition we would like to share with you some opportunities to participate with us in a live recording of a Safety Culture Excellence Podcast, and sit in on some of our talks this week at National Safety Council 2009 Congress and Expo.

Terry and I have decided to record a special episode live at National Safety Council! The recording will take place on Wednesday the 28^th of October from 9:30 am – 10:30 am. If you would like to find out where this will be held, please stop by booth number #737 on Monday or Tuesday to pick up the information and invite. If you have trouble remembering our booth number, just think of the 737 airplane.  

Terry will be leading a preconference session titled Teaching Supervisors to Be Safety Coaches today, the 25^th of October from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM in room W108B

Consider that supervisors are probably the most important people in any organization for creating a safe environment. Their impact on safety is exceptional, and when they’re aligned with organizational goals and taught effective coaching skills, the results can be extremely positive. This session investigates why supervisors may not fulfill their potential as safety leaders, and what can be done to remedy the situation.

Terry and Rudy Hagen from Georgia-Pacific will be jointly presenting on a topic titled “Measuring Safety Culture at Georgia-Pacific. This session will be held on Monday, the 26^th of October from 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in room 308A

Sometimes safety training has to be presented differently at various locations. This session will examine why several Georgia-Pacific sites encountered cultural issues with training tools that had been successful at other sites. You’ll see how Georgia-Pacific partnered with ProAct Safety to develop new tools and processes that measure safety excellence. This new analysis helped uncover problems that were not apparent in audits or perception surveys. Learn the methodology, findings, corrective steps and the impact they had on safety at these sites.

I will be speaking about Safety Culture Assessments and Actionable Findings also on Monday the 26^th of October from 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM in room 311C

Until you determine where your safety program is, you can’t determine the best approach to getting where you want it to be. Safety cultural assessments uncover your safety management needs. This session will discuss different approaches to conducting safety cultural assessments, and how to ensure findings are internally actionable and results are sustainable.

Terry will be speaking on Motivation Strategies: Rewards and Incentives on Tuesday the 27^th of October from 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM, in room 307C 

Are you or your team running out of gas? Incentive programs can be tough to execute. This session will examine ways to motivate your team and get everyone involved in the process. You will have the opportunity to share your challenges and ideas you have for engaging people. Bring examples and ideas to share.

So if you are coming out to NSC I hope you will stop by booth #737 to get any further information on either our talks, participate in a podcast recording, or just to stop by and say hello!

Wow I can’t believe it, 100 episodes already. On behalf of all of us here at ProAct Safety we thank you for tuning in each week. It has been a lot of fun recording these podcasts and responding to your questions. By the way thank you for allowing us to use these questions to create podcasts. We promise to continue to bring you fresh ideas each week. If you would like to sign up for our private newsletter so you can be among the first to receive notification about public and private events then please visit www.ProActSafety.com and click on the Subscribe button.

Thanks again for allowing us to share our thoughts with you. I hope you will continue to share yours with us as well. I’d like to close with this, if you only have time to do one thing in safety today, what would it be and how will it contribute to making this a safer world for us all? Thanks for tuning in…

Shawn M. Galloway

ProAct Safety

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Greetings, this podcast recorded in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Last week Terry and I talked about the four (4) part model, FILM – Focus, Influence, Listen and Measure. If you haven’t listened to last week’s podcast I highly encourage you to go back and do so first, prior to continuing with this topic as this one builds on last week’s model. This week we sat down and discussed the four primary factors that influence risk taking.  I hope you will be able to find a way to apply these models to your organization. If you need any assistance, please feel free to contact us. All of our contact information can be found at www.ProActSafety.com. 

This audio file can be found at www.SafetyCultureExcellence.com

Have a great week!

Shawn M. Galloway

ProAct Safety, Inc.

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Greetings, this podcast recorded in Canton, Ohio. This week Terry and I would like to share with you an advanced model for improving safety. This is a model that has helped hundreds of international organizations advance beyond traditional safety, to reach and sustain a level of excellence in safety. First, I would like to challenge you with something. As you will hear how this four part model applies to safety, consider the impact this would have on other operational performance areas such as quality, on-time delivery, productivity and others.  If you would like a graph of this in a PowerPoint slide, please email us at podcast @ proactsafety.com.

In next week’s podcast we will expand on this topic by discussing a follow-up model that sheds light on the four primary factors that influence risk taking. Thank you for tuning in each week and remember these topics come from the questions we receive while on assignment and from you the listeners. So, keep them coming! 

Have a great week!

Shawn M. Galloway

ProAct Safety, Inc.

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Greetings, this podcast recorded in Avon Lake, OH. “Most safety culture improvement initiatives either start at the top or the bottom of the organizational structure: executive coaching for senior managers or workforce teambuilding for the rank and file. Some experts believe that safety begins with leadership, others stress that worker behavior has the most impact on safety.   Both approaches can achieve improvement. However, there are organizations with good reasons to delay these approaches and start safety improvement in the middle.” – Terry L. Mathis.

In the August 2009 edition of EHS Today, Terry Mathis, the Founder and CEO of our firm ProAct Safety, published an article that I would like to share with you today. If you would like to see the actual article, please visit EHS Today’s website at www.EHSToday.com or you can find it on our website at www.ProActSafety.com along with a lot of other free content to improve your safety focus.

Thanks and have a great week!

Shawn Galloway

ProAct Safety

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Greetings, this podcast recorded in San Antonio, Texas. Both of my parents were born in San Antonio and I still have a lot of family here, including a family ranch with Texas Longhorns on it. Go figure I’m from Texas and my family has a Longhorn Cattle Ranch, who would of thought. Moreover I bet you wouldn’t be surprised to find my family runs a horse farm and my sister is a Equestrian Hunter/Jumper horse trainer. What is this a Dallas Episode? Anyways sorry for the digression, back to the topic here in San Antonio.

Wikipedia defines a black hole as “a region of space in which the gravitational field is so powerful that nothing, including light, can escape its pull. The black hole has a one-way surface, called an event horizon, into which objects can fall, but out of which nothing can come. It is called “black” because it absorbs all the light that hits it, reflecting nothing…” 

In a previous podcast I referred to how a black hole could apply in safety, calling this phenomenon a “Black Hole Safety System”. This is where safety information goes in and nothing comes out. For this week, Terry and I will talk about this topic in more detail. We will provide some examples of what this looks like in an organization, and steps to correct and avoid such an undesirable element of any organizational systems.

I hope you enjoy this week’s podcast!

Shawn Galloway

ProAct Safety

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