Safety Culture Excellence®

The Safety Game Plan

Just as a head coach should bring a plan to win each game, leaders of organizations should have a plan to win in safety.  If you truly seek excellence, it is not enough to simply set a goal to win by so many points, or just show up and rely on the native ability of your players.  True leadership involves strategy.  How do you play on your strengths?  How do you adjust for special challenges?  How do you constantly revise your plan based on successes and failures?  How do you motivate and direct your players?

So many safety programs lack true strategies and simply rely on good players, traditional plays, and a little cheerleading.  Leaders stress safety rather than leading it.  They give it lip service and even invest resources in traditional efforts, but they don’t really have a game plan.  They fire poor performers and try to hire better ones, but don’t really have a training program to maximize performance.  All the symptoms of poor coaching apply to safety leadership.  Do you bring a game plan to the table in your organization?

 

 

-Terry L. Mathis

 

For more insights, visit 

www.ProActSafety.com

 

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 three consecutive times. 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).

377 - The Reality of Positive Reinforcement

Greetings all, here is a short video for this week's podcast. I hope it gets you thinking!

Shawn M. Galloway

President, ProAct Safety

376 - The Rationale for Safety Excellence

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Dallas, TX. I’d like to share an article Terry Mathis wrote that was published in EHS 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 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

374 - Should Safety Pros Work Themselves Out Of Their Jobs?

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Auburn Hills, MI. I’d like to share an article I wrote that was published 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 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

372 - Client and Contractor: Aligning Safety Cultures

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Coldspring, TX. I’d like to share an article I wrote that was published 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 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

Much Ado About Zero

The furor about “zero accidents” would have inspired Shakespeare to write a play.  It is, indeed, a tempest in a teapot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.  Of course, every organization should desire to be accident free and, of course, they should not set goals that develop a tolerance for a certain level of accidents.  On the other hand, goals of perfection can be demotivating when they are consistently not reached, and preaching “zero accidents” while practicing “hurry and get it done” will usually backfire.

The bottom line is, whatever you set as a goal, if you don’t have a systematic strategy for reaching success, and if your strategy is impractical, misunderstood, or not believed to be real, your goal is meaningless.  Zero accidents is not a direct product you can manufacture; it is the by-product of excellent strategy and excellent execution.  Setting goals for the process and monitoring the value derived from the efforts, rather than simply measuring lagging indicators, is a clearer and cleaner path to success.

-Terry L. Mathis

For more insights, visit www.ProActSafety.com

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.

370 - Becoming a Rising Star in Safety

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Minneapolis, MN. I’d like to share an article I wrote that was published 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 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

Root Cause Analysis is Machine Thinking

Seeking out and addressing root causes of problems is the ultimate fix for machines. If you simply repair the obvious failure, it may recur.   People are not machines!  Using root cause thinking with humans can actually make you miss the best solutions, especially in safety.  It is extremely limited thinking to look exclusively at human contribution as the problem or failure in accidental injuries.  

Human behavior is based on a complex mixture of influences and projections.  Past experience, training, analyses of job hazards, projections of what could cause injuries, and the overriding pressures to complete the work all influence behavioral choices.  A change in the weight of any of these or other influences can tip the balance of influence and change the logic of the choice.  Failure to identify risks due to low-probability or other factors play into the equation.  Simply underestimating risk probability is a growing problem.  Distractions to concentration at work are also growing as work gets more complex and technology increases the availability and amount of communication.

Rather than viewing human performance as a mechanical process, we need to see it more like a weather pattern that can be changed by multiple factors, something that needs to be forecast rather than fixed.

-Terry L. Mathis

For more insights, visit www.ProActSafety.com

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.

368 - Measure What You Want

Greetings all, here is a short video for this week's podcast. I hope it gets you thinking!

Shawn M. Galloway

President, ProAct Safety

367 - Common Practice: The Third Level of Leading Indicators

Greetings everyone, this podcast recorded while in Akeley, MN. I’d like to share an article Terry Mathis wrote that was published in EHS Today 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