So You Want to Build a Safety Culture?

So You Want to Build a Safety Culture?

Blog

So You Want to Build a Safety Culture? by Pat Karol
Imagine you get a call from your operations manager the Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend. Sue is calling to tell you that Joe, a hardworking employee with 15 years of experience fell 21 feet and is in the hospital. Joe’s lucky—he’s going to make it.

There was an issue with the fall protection gear, and Sue is investigating. This is the third time this year employees have encountered fall protection issues. Usually, that means there wasn’t any protection. No one has been seriously injured though, until today.

“Why can’t they just follow procedures? Why can’t they get it right? Enough is enough,” you think. “I’ve got to get tough!”

You intend to build a strong safety culture and ask Sue to meet you Tuesday morning in your office. In the meantime, you issue an edict that anyone caught not following procedures will be sent home and disciplined.

You know you must improve your safety culture, but is that the best way? Building a safety culture has as much to do with leadership as it does with managing safety. It has to do with creating an environment in which employees are “buying” safety and not being “sold” safety. In this environment, following procedures is second nature.

How do you properly build a safety culture? Continue reading Pat Karol’s article “So You Want to Build a Safety Culture?” in Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) Journal. In it, you’ll find some fundamental but often overlooked steps in creating minimal risk environments.

As EEC’s previous Safety Director, Pat has extensive experience in assessing safety cultures and safety management systems. He spoke at PEI’s conference in October of 2016, an event that brought together thousands of professionals in the gas station/fuel delivery industry. You can check out this article in the link below.

Karol, Patrick J. “So You Want to Build a Safety Culture?” Petroleum Equipment Institute Journal. 4th Quarter 2016: 50-53. Print.

Southern California Office Address

1 City Boulevard West Suite 1800
Orange, California 92868

 

Southern California Office Phone

Phone: (714) 667-2300

Mid-Atlantic Office Address

200 Harry S Truman Parkway Suite 330  Annapolis, MD 21401

 
Mid-Atlantic Office Phone

Phone: (410) 263-2234
Fax: (410) 266-8660