• People who are provided with information on a regular basis are more likely to engage on safety and health issues .
• Posters , warning signs and policies are not enough . To support a successful safety culture , the vision and messaging needs to be continuous and obvious so behaviors become second nature .
7 . Safety Programs and Resources
This is a tough one for many event folks to get their heads around .
• A healthy safety program also requires resources to monitor and take on actionable items requiring attention . It may be one person or a large team of people . Regardless , someone has to follow through on the punch list .
• Resources also means funding . Safety is a hard cost with a soft return . Those who control the purse strings must understand the return on their investment will probably not be obvious .
• From hazard identification and reporting , to risk mitigation and elimination , there needs to be a system that manages the process .
• Once the members of the organization acquire the mindset that it is their obligation to actively protect themselves and their co-workers it is the system in place that must now engage and work to progress toward the vision .
• The system should offer support , guidance and controls necessary to all levels of staff and promote the small wins as well as the big ones .
8 . Blame-free Workplace
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• In a strong safety culture any worker would feel comfortable walking up to the plant manager or CEO and reminding him or her to wear safety glasses . This type of behavior would not be viewed as forward or over-zealous but would be valued by the organization and rewarded . Likewise coworkers routinely look out for one another and point out unsafe behaviors to each other . ( USDOL , 1970 )
• Some people feel like they are tattling on someone when they report an unsafe behavior , condition or hazard . They are afraid they will be looked at as a ‘ whistleblower ’ and place their job in jeopardy . This issue will be one of the hardest for our industry to work through . Even after thirty years of progress on their safety programs , the film and television industry must still deal with these issues . See the below comment from a crewmember on a film set :
“ For eight or ten weeks , the director ’ s in charge of cast and crew and his or her word is law ,” he says . “ If he wants people to do something crazy , it ’ s very hard for someone lower down the ladder to speak up .” ( Smith , 2014 )
This worker ’ s comments echo what we know exists in our own industry and is the basis for my earlier comparison of the two industries . It also bolsters my opinion that ten , twenty and thirty years in the future , we will still be having the same fundamental discussions about event safety as we are today .
The good news is , we ’ ve engaged in the war on ignorance in our industry . The bad news is , ignorance is a renewable resource .
• One vital part of the vision needs to be to create trust between all involved . When it comes to safety in the workplace everyone must be an equal partner .
• Make everyone in the organization an active partner in the safety culture , there is no blame because when someone identifies a hazard , they are simply beginning the organization ’ s standard risk mitigation process .
• When an incident occurs , there should be no shame or guilt , only immediate mitigation of the risk that lead to the incident . The organization must act as one unit from top to bottom and feel secure in correcting unsafe practices without fear of retaliation . Resolve situations first , there will be time for investigations later .
• In this type of environment , management will have a greater sense of what is going on . The workforce is compelled to tell the truth , and say what management needs to hear even if it is not what management wants to hear .
• When incidents occur , people at all levels must be held accountable and embrace the bad news as another step in the transformation process . Record the incident and mitigation efforts for later use .
9 . Celebrate Success
• Recognition , rewards , incentives , reinforcement and feedback are important .
• A good safety culture makes it worthwhile for everyone to maintain a state of mindfulness by celebrating success whether big or small .
Eight Steps to Transforming Your Organization ( Kotter , 1995 )
1 . Establish a sense of urgency 2 . Form a powerful guiding coalition 3 . Create a vision 4 . Communicate the vision 5 . Empower others to act on the vision