Safety Culture Excellence®

Distracted Driving - Mitigating the Most Likely Halloween Risk

Today at work, employees and leaders alike will work hard to control risk exposure on the job. Hazard identification training will take place, new risks will be identified and barriers to safety excellence removed. The vast majority of these same individuals will leave at the end of their day to return home to go trick-or-treating with family members, or stay home to hand out candy. We are increasing our ability to identify hazards and control risks on the job, how well are we doing with Halloween?

My earliest memories of the joys of Halloween are also coupled with the horror stories of apples with needles in them, pixie sticks with PCP (Phencyclidine) or cyanide, child predators, and blades in lollipops. Many of these were myths, but there were truths as well. In 1964, a woman in Long Island, New York, frustrated with the increasing age of trick-or treaters, handed out items containing steel wool, dog biscuits and ant buttons. Thankfully she was prosecuted. In Detroit the same year, lye-filled gum made the news, along with rat-poison as treats in Philadelphia.

Today these stories persist and a new risk has emerged as the top danger of Halloween, distracted driving. According to the article, “Halloween is ‘Deadliest Day’ Of The Year For Pedestrian Fatalities” (http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/halloween_deadliest_day.aspx) some concerning details were revealed based on an analysis of more than four million records in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 1990 – 2010 for children 0-18 years of age on October 31.

• “Halloween Was Deadliest Day of the Year for Child Pedestrian Accidents
• Nearly one-fourth of accidents occurred from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Over 60% of the accidents occurred in the 4-hour period from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.”
• Over 70% of the accidents occurred away from an intersection or crosswalk.
• Most of the fatalities occurred with children ages 12-15 (32% of all child fatalities), followed by children ages 5-8 (23%).
• Young drivers ages 15-25 accounted for nearly one-third of all fatal accidents involving child pedestrians on Halloween.”

Several sources recommend the following tips to help keep children safe this Halloween from the most likely risk:

1. If wearing a mask, make sure it doesn’t limit vision
2. Wear bright enough clothing or reflective items and carry a flashlight – and turn it on!
3. Make sure clothing or costume accessories do not limit mobility
4. Cross at crosswalks and intersections, not in the middle of the street
5. Trick-or-Treat in larger groups to increase visibility
6. If you need to drive, take a cab if consuming alcoholic beverages or are tired
7. Do not operate a phone while driving (Teen age drivers more prone to distracted driving)

During this work day, please take time to discuss this risk and prevention options. Share these facts and tips with your work colleagues and most importantly, your family. Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power.” Give the power to those you care about, to help them mitigate the most likely risk they will encounter this Halloween, distracted driving.

- Shawn M. Galloway

Shawn M. Galloway is the President of ProAct Safety and the coauthor of two books, his latest published Feb 2013 by Wiley is STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence. As an internationally recognized safety excellence expert, he has helped hundreds of organizations within every major industry to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture.  He has been listed in this year’s National Safety Council Top 40 Rising Stars, EHS Today Magazine’s 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS and ISHN Magazine’s POWER 101 – Leaders of the EHS World and again in the recent, elite list of Up and Coming Thought Leaders. In addition to the books, Shawn has authored over 300 podcasts, 100 articles and 80 videos on the subject of safety excellence in culture and performance.

Little Things: The Biggest Things in Safety

It is logical to begin a safety effort by addressing the risks with the greatest probability for causing injuries and the highest severity potential.  However, it is imperative that when the greater risks are addressed that the next ones in line get the new focus.  If an organization ever develops the mindset that they have handled the big things and all that is left are little things, not worth the bother, this is a formula for disaster.  Many rude wake-up calls have come via a rash of accidents caused by these “little things.”

Accidents are, after all, ambushes.  If we saw them coming we would have avoided them.  So it logically follows that anything we don’t keep our eyes on has the potential of ambushing us.  Some experts suggest that workers get injured when they fail to recognize the risk.  But underestimating the risk is equally dangerous.  

Many have adopted a goal or vision of “zero injuries.”  If properly explained and implemented, such a goal can keep organizations continuously addressing smaller risks as they successfully eliminate or manage larger ones.  When accident rates go down, the effort does not stop; it simply refocuses itself on the next tier of risks.  True excellence in safety is quite different from simply pretty good.  No risk should ever be considered a “little thing.”

-Terry L. Mathis

Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.

313 - Who Should Develop Corporate Safety Strategy?

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Covington, KY. I’d like to share an article I wrote, published August 2013 in OH&S Magazine. The published article can either be found on the magazine’s website or under Insights at www.ProActSafety.com.

I hope you enjoy the podcast this week. If you would like to download or play on demand our other podcasts, please visit the ProAct Safety’s podcast website at: http://www.safetycultureexcellence.com. If you would like access to archived podcasts (older than 90 days – dating back to January 2008) please visit www.ProActSafety.com/Store. For more detailed strategies to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture, pick up a copy of our book, STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence - http://proactsafety.com/insights/steps-to-safety-culture-excellence

Have a great week!

Shawn M. Galloway
ProAct Safety

Is Your Safety Program Viral or Vile?

How many of your employees brag about the safety program and are excited about their participation? How many would rather pay their own money to not participate in or attend safety events? Engagement is accepted as an important indicator of the culture and the shared priority or value of safety. How many excited and willing participants do you have in your safety culture? How many individuals are eager to create and star-in a video to show precisely how proud they are? Weatherford found some.

As I’m currently traveling the many global oil fields to assess the major contractors' cultures of a major Oil and Gas Operator client, I’m exposed to some similar and some radically different approaches to safety. All of the organizations I’m interviewing have mature safety programs and evolving cultures around safety. Not all have videos they can point me to that outlines an approach they are proud of.

In some recent interviews, several individuals directed me to a video to learn more about a particular approach within their company, Weatherford. When the video was first brought to my attention in 2012, I was impressed, but not as impressed as when over a year later, across the world from the group that created it, others were bragging about it. To see this video, visit this YouTube link: http://youtu.be/i1yJgRJ4za4

I should point out that other organizations have videos created to highlight the pride in safety and accomplishments. Not all have reached a point of becoming viral. On a side note, I find it shameful that the majority of videos having to do with safety that become viral, are injury-related. I received one today that was intended to (according to accompanying message) provoke laughter. I stopped it half-way through as it was questionable whether the Darwin-award winners survived or not. I’m surprised people find decisions that led to major injury or death, funny.

Do your safety programs, videos and information make people smile, create interest and facilitate engagement? Or, do they prompt cringing, create disengagement and turn people off to the message? Safety should be viewed as more than a condition of employment. Safety adds value to the job site, personnel involved, and the families they are working to support. When people enjoy the content, they might (but rarely) share if they have the extra time. When they are a part of the content and it is entertaining and adds value, they make time to share.

- Shawn M. Galloway

Shawn M. Galloway is the President of ProAct Safety and the coauthor of two books, his latest published Feb 2013 by Wiley is STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence. As an internationally recognized safety excellence expert, he has helped hundreds of organizations within every major industry to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture.  He has been listed in this year’s National Safety Council Top 40 Rising Stars, EHS Today Magazine’s 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS and ISHN Magazine’s POWER 101 – Leaders of the EHS World and again in the recent, elite list of Up and Coming Thought Leaders. In addition to the books, Shawn has authored over 300 podcasts, 100 articles and 80 videos on the subject of safety excellence in culture and performance.

Safety Rules vs. Safety Principles

An expert on team-building once suggested that an excellent team member may occasionally break a rule but would NEVER violate a principle.  At first, these two concepts seem incongruous.  How could someone break a rule without violating a principle as well?  The simple answer is that rules are incomplete and imperfect.  They are often made with good intentions but seldom completely address all contingencies or always achieve the goal for which they were created.  Principles, on the other hand, are more universal.  They apply to all or many situations whereas rules are often specific to a particular task or circumstance.  Also, a few principles can replace a lot of rules making it easier for workers to internalize them.  

For example:  A rule might be “Never walk underneath a suspended load on a crane” or “Never walk into the path of an oncoming fork truck” or “Always walk through the pedestrian doors and not through the equipment doors.”  The principle behind these and many other rules is “Always avoid placing yourself in the path of moving or potentially moving objects.”  The more often you are in the path, the more likely you will be struck by a moving object.

Teaching workers safety principles prepares them to meet a variety of risks and to creatively apply what they have learned.  Rules tend to be “one rule to one risk” and teach workers to be mindlessly compliant.  What do they do when they face a task for which the organization has no rule or is an exception to the rule?  If they know the principle, they tend to assess the situation and devise a strategy to address it.  

Rules are guidelines to play a game.  Too many rules can make safety seem like an artificial activity governed by arbitrary guidelines.  Principles are strategic values that offer knowledge and wisdom to apply to the variety of situations we face in life and work.  They guide thinking rather than replacing it.

-Terry L. Mathis

Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.

Safety Culture: So Much Controversy!

In my column in OH&S Magazine, an article of mine was published March, 2013 titled, Stop Trying to Create a Safety Culture. - http://proactsafety.com/articles/stop-trying-to-create-a-safety-culture

It created a lot of buzz, which increased significantly when I posted it recently to the groups I belong to in LinkedIn. There is a word limit in the group comments, so to reply to some great feedback and discussion, I’ve organized my thoughts here.

Do I think we should stop creating safety culture? Yes. Safety Culture, or what we call it at least, already exists, good, bad, or indifferent. You only create the culture when you are first gathering people together from different backgrounds (e.g., experiences, employers, communities) and start aligning them to accomplish something. Only then (when the business opens the doors) are you focusing on the creation of a culture. Even that statement could be disagreed with, in that cultural influences were already imposed on people. Perhaps creation starts in the home? Perhaps culture of safety starts with the responsibility of the parents as their children enter the working world – that could be an interesting discussion!

The business culture is created after people have grown accustom to working together. Could the safety/production/quality/leadership elements be better? Sure, always. If someone thinks otherwise, they are breathing their own exhaust. The only way we advance is to believe there will always be a better way. I have yet to find a company that only and only improvement in “safety culture” would only benefit safety. (Safety culture: Just a term used to provide understanding and structure to, A. Bring focus and B. Provide bookends to manage within.) If there are opportunities for the aspects, characterizes and capabilities that shape safety to be improved, there are always opportunities for these to enhance all aspects of business performance.

What of multiple or subculture? I do believe there will be subcultures within cultures in mid to large size organizations and very disorganized smaller firms. I also believe that that a bit of autonomy is healthy, as long as it contributes to organizational vision and goals. However, I do not agree with the benefit of multiple safety cultures, unless the company-dictated safety culture is ineffective. I’d have to do research, there was a study I read about 5-7 years ago, that said every time you speak to your direct supervisor, your blood pressure increases. Now, how does that create alignment in all aspects of culture if there are medical reactions when an individual speaks with different levels of the business?

What I do think is counterproductive is to completely discount the term and how it is used as commonplace in today’s business. I hear and see people saying that it shouldn’t be used. In my opinion, these people are out of touch with today’s senior executive. Telling them they are wrong, will turn them off to a new way of thinking. Of course it will take new information and experiences to help those who own the overall culture to see the realities of safety culture. But, just nay-saying without a comprehensive alternative is just spreading pointless negativity. For example, there were several in the safety field (whom are Psychologists) that several years back, strongly discouraged and disliked the use of the term habit; It wasn’t scientific enough! Habit is a common term that provides great understanding and helps serve as a vehicle for important messages about safety.

Terry Mathis and I took a well, thought-out risk with our book published earlier this year by WILEY, when using the term Safety Culture in the title. The book is more about company culture and how to strengthen it overall (to improve safety), but we realize that if we want to influence those responsible for it (business execs), we have to provide it in a manner that might appeal to those that are serious about improving safety performance and culture. Keep in mind, it was not a self-published book so the goal was not to become a best-seller for profit. We were honored when it did on Amazon, and the best feedback we received from execs was they saw how it could be used in all aspects of business culture. – Exactly our goal: provide ideas for internally-led improvement.

If we are unwilling to accept new common terms and learn how to work with them to advance thinking, behavior, processes and results we are working against ourselves and the new generations, their habits, points of view and language. Heck, I’m still trying to understand twerking… (Side Note: I wrote this in MS Word as connectivity is limited where I am writing this from, and word didn’t recognize twerking!)

- Shawn M. Galloway

Shawn M. Galloway is the President of ProAct Safety and the coauthor of two books, his latest published Feb 2013 by Wiley is STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence. As an internationally recognized safety excellence expert, he has helped hundreds of organizations within every major industry to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture.  He has been listed in this year’s National Safety Council Top 40 Rising Stars, EHS Today Magazine’s 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS and ISHN Magazine’s POWER 101 – Leaders of the EHS World and again in the recent, elite list of Up and Coming Thought Leaders. In addition to the books, Shawn has authored over 300 podcasts, 100 articles and 80 videos on the subject of safety excellence in culture and performance.

312 – Who Really Owns Safety?

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Bethesda, MD. I’d like to share an article I wrote, published August 2013 in ISHN Magazine. The published article can either be found on the magazine’s website or under Insights at www.ProActSafety.com.

I hope you enjoy the podcast this week. If you would like to download or play on demand our other podcasts, please visit the ProAct Safety’s podcast website at: http://www.safetycultureexcellence.com. If you would like access to archived podcasts (older than 90 days – dating back to January 2008) please visit www.ProActSafety.com/Store. For more detailed strategies to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture, pick up a copy of our book, STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence - http://proactsafety.com/insights/steps-to-safety-culture-excellence

Have a great week!

Shawn M. Galloway
ProAct Safety

Misunderstanding Hazards and Risks

I heard a good analogy recently about the difference between hazards and risks. “Hazards are the sharks you spot in ocean while standing on the shore. They become Risks when you get in the water.” How well do you help those you lead, understand, identify, and respond to the differences?

With good intentions, many organizations prompt activities to purposefully and proactively identify potential hazards in the workplace. While this is admirable, it becomes a complex issue when there isn’t a shared understanding of what a hazard is and isn’t, and how some turn into risk. But, not all risk will turn into incidents and injuries. Further, if there is a shared belief that “safe means zero risk and safety first”, or “safety is our number one priority”; might there be mixed signals sent?

Consider how this might be interpreted, “They say our goal is zero injuries and zero risks and that ‘safety first’ means we are controlling all the risks, yet we have brought several to management’s attention with no action!” This isn’t just hyperbole, this misunderstanding was the result of a conversation with a key union official within a client organization.   

Let’s provide some further context on hazards and risk. Wikipedia provides a good definition of hazard. “A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an emergency situation. A hazardous situation that has come to pass is called an incident. Hazard and possibility interact together to create risk.” Note the key points in this, “most hazards are… only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes ‘active’…”

A further search in Wikipedia provides another good explanation of risk. “Risk is the potential of loss (an undesirable outcome, however not necessarily so) resulting from a given action, activity and/or inaction. The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome sometimes exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much riskier than others.” Again, some key points to tease out: “Risk is the potential of loss… resulting from a given action”. Moreover, it points out “Any human endeavor carries some risk…”

Some safety advocates propose there is little point in debating terminology. I strongly disagree. How common language is used influences beliefs and behaviors within the culture. The English language has many different meanings for the same word. Have you ever used a word or phrase that was interpreted incorrectly? Of course you have. You know how important it is to use the correct words when communicating with your family. Why should our dialogue within safety be less important? After all, isn’t it our number one priority? Or wait, is it a core value?

- Shawn M. Galloway

Here is a short video on this topic: http://youtu.be/_BrpiL4rxgk

Shawn M. Galloway is the President of ProAct Safety and the coauthor of two books, his latest published Feb 2013 by Wiley is STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence. As an internationally recognized safety excellence expert, he has helped hundreds of organizations within every major industry to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture.  He has been listed in this year’s National Safety Council Top 40 Rising Stars, EHS Today Magazine’s 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS and ISHN Magazine’s POWER 101 – Leaders of the EHS World and again in the recent, elite list of Up and Coming Thought Leaders. In addition to the books, Shawn has authored over 300 podcasts, 100 articles and 80 videos on the subject of safety excellence in culture and performance.

Sticky Safety Cultures

A scholar once said that culture wasn’t so much what was in the heads of its members as what was between their heads.  In other words, what they share in common.  Leaders often ask how they can make safety cultural.  The short answer is, get everyone on the same page.  If every worker has the same definition of key safety concepts, the same vision of what safety excellence looks like, and can recite their roles, responsibilities and desired results, these concepts become cultural

An effective technique for culture building is to make communication and training more “sticky.”  Sticky means that the message or training sticks in workers’ memory and can be brought to mind quickly.  For example, if you want workers to remember a 3-or-4 step process, give each step a clever name and make them into an acronym.  Repeat them in meetings and training often and ask trainees to repeat them back until they do so easily.  

Just as every American school child learns the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, workers should be able to recite basic safety goals, objectives, definitions, and other concepts.  Even if the words are not exactly the same the concepts should be.  If the concept is not in the workers; memory, it will never be in their habits.  Shared habits form common practice and common practice is a visible artifact of culture.

-Terry L. Mathis

Terry L. Mathis is the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. He is known for his dynamic presentations in the fields of behavioral and cultural safety, leadership, and operational performance, and is a regular speaker at ASSE, NSC, and numerous company and industry conferences. EHS Today listed Terry as a Safety Guru in ‘The 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS in 2010, 2011 and 2012-2013. He has been a frequent contributor to industry magazines for over 15 years and is the coauthor of STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence, 2013, WILEY.

311 - Safety Strategy: Is your safety professional a grunt or guru?

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Nashville, TN. I’d like to share an article I wrote, published August 2013 in BIC Magazine. The published article can either be found on the magazine’s website or under Insights at www.ProActSafety.com.

I hope you enjoy the podcast this week. If you would like to download or play on demand our other podcasts, please visit the ProAct Safety’s podcast website at: http://www.safetycultureexcellence.com. If you would like access to archived podcasts (older than 90 days – dating back to January 2008) please visit www.ProActSafety.com/Store. For more detailed strategies to achieve and sustain excellence in performance and culture, pick up a copy of our book, STEPS to Safety Culture Excellence - http://proactsafety.com/insights/steps-to-safety-culture-excellence

Have a great week!

Shawn M. Galloway
ProAct Safety