Comments on: The First Step to a Culture of Safety: Eye Protection http://www.safetyxchange.org/compliance-risk-management/step-culture-safety-eye-protection Putting Safety First Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:58:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=7816 hourly 1 By: Denis Bagot, CRSP http://www.safetyxchange.org/compliance-risk-management/step-culture-safety-eye-protection/comment-page-1#comment-11003 Denis Bagot, CRSP Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:15:04 +0000 http://www.safetyxchange.org/?p=9059#comment-11003 Interesting article Phil! One minor, but important point - Eye protection could not have prevented (avoided [sic]) the incident. At best, eye protection prevents injuries and/or reduces severity. PPE is the last line of defense - sometimes the only defense. A company with a strong safety culture will have much more, not at least. Those who advocate “starting to build a stronger safety culture with a better eye safety program” don’t understand the first thing about building a safety culture. “Safety culture” is another buzz words that is bandied about by everyone today. Everyone talks about it. Everyone wants it. No one wants to pay for it! An eye protection policy and program might be a sliver of evidence of a strong safety culture – never the foundation or even a foundation stone. Culture is more than policies and programs. Case in point, many companies and safety professionals beg, steal and borrow the policies and programs of others. One cannot borrow or buy a safety culture. Interestingly, you can’t buy it, but “it will cost you”! If anyone wants a safety culture, they must start to build it. Whose responsibility is it to build a culture, safety or otherwise? Where does it start? Safety culture, like all issues relative to culture in the business environment, is a leadership issue, not a PPE issue. It seems that two thirds of your respondents missed the ball. Maybe, if they were “safety leaders,” the results would have been different. Respectfully, Denis Bagot Interesting article Phil! One minor, but important point - Eye protection could not have prevented (avoided [sic]) the incident. At best, eye protection prevents injuries and/or reduces severity. PPE is the last line of defense - sometimes the only defense. A company with a strong safety culture will have much more, not at least.

Those who advocate “starting to build a stronger safety culture with a better eye safety program” don’t understand the first thing about building a safety culture. “Safety culture” is another buzz words that is bandied about by everyone today. Everyone talks about it. Everyone wants it. No one wants to pay for it!

An eye protection policy and program might be a sliver of evidence of a strong safety culture – never the foundation or even a foundation stone. Culture is more than policies and programs. Case in point, many companies and safety professionals beg, steal and borrow the policies and programs of others. One cannot borrow or buy a safety culture. Interestingly, you can’t buy it, but “it will cost you”! If anyone wants a safety culture, they must start to build it. Whose responsibility is it to build a culture, safety or otherwise? Where does it start? Safety culture, like all issues relative to culture in the business environment, is a leadership issue, not a PPE issue.

It seems that two thirds of your respondents missed the ball. Maybe, if they were “safety leaders,” the results would have been different.

Respectfully,

Denis Bagot

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