Intuitively, it just makes sense that a culture conducive to health and safety would translate into better health and safety performance. Extensive new research from the consulting firm, Towers Perrin-ISR, demonstrates and sheds new insight on the link between culture and performance. Specifically, researchers zero in on four aspects of culture that influence outcomes:

Let's continue our look at the case studies that Towers Perrin-ISR compiled.

CASE STUDY 3: A Global Petrochemical Company

Results of another Towers Perrin-ISR study conducted at a global petrochemical company that also linked employee attitudes with the incidence of workplace accidents gives further support to the results of its research conducted on VPP-recognized sites that we discussed last week.

This study involved employee opinion data collected from more than 58,000 employees at 37 separate sites and compared with actual safety data gathered from the same 37 sites.

As expected, Towers Perrin-ISR found that accident-related workday interruptions were higher at sites where respondents perceived higher workloads. In addition, employee perceptions of teamwork were also found to be related to this safety measure. Further, employee ratings of teamwork were actually found to moderate the impact of perceived workload on accident-related interruptions to the workday:

Further analysis revealed a negative relationship between incidences of accident-related absences from work and employee empowerment. In general, the incidence of accident-related absence was almost 74% lower at sites where workers reported higher levels of empowerment.

Towers Perrin-ISR's research also identified exemplary sites within the organization, i.e., sites with low levels of safety-related accidents and strong levels of teamwork and empowerment. These sites were targeted for follow-up studies aimed at identifying and disseminating information about best practices that could impact safety at work sites.

Longitudinal Findings Linking Employee Opinions to Safety Outcomes

A recent follow-up study with a global energy company further supports and expands upon this research. In a fourth case study of another global petrochemical company, featuring data from more than 35,000 employees across 163 operating units, a statistical model hypothesizing the links between safety performance and the common predictors of safety outcomes was tested and validated. Data was collected in 2004 and again in 2007, allowing Towers Perrin-ISR to track and report the changes in employee opinions and actual safety outcomes.

Not surprisingly, sites with the greatest improvements in employee favorability on supervision, teamwork, empowerment, workload, senior management and employee well-being, had the greatest declines in safety incidents. The sites that made the cultural investment in the key areas coming out of the study experienced the greatest safety return on this investment.

Conclusion

So far, we've discussed the links between employee attitudes and safety outcomes. Next, we'll apply the results of this research by setting out specific steps that organizations can take to improve their safety performance.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

The Texas City Disaster

April 16, 1947

By Ted Morrison

Safety professionals have heard of the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion. According to the final Chemical Safety Bureau report, a productivity-driven mentality undercut safety, culminating in the deaths of 16 workers.

Unfortunately, Texas City is famous for another disaster. The 1947 explosion and fire are commonly held to be the worst industrial accident in the United States.

On the morning of April 16 the cargo vessel Grandcamp was loading paper sacks of ammonium nitrate. Close by was the High Flyer, also loading. The two vessels contained a total of 3,300 tons of ammonium nitrate, plus tons of ammunition and sulfur.

At 8:10 a.m. a fire was reported in the Grandcamp's hold. The Captain ordered steam to be pumped into the hold to dampen the fire. Instead, it warmed the already-overheated cargo, and at 9:12 a.m., the Grandcamp exploded.

Hundreds of people died instantly. Nearby aircraft were flung from the skies. Six hundred tons of the ship's steel structure scythed through the air. People in Galveston, ten miles (16 km) away, were thrown to their knees. The Grandcamp's anchor, weighing 2 tons (1,400 kg) was found over a mile-and-a-half (2.4 km) away.

In the shell-shocked hours after the explosion, frantic survivors on the High Flyer fought fires and tried to get her out of port. But she was trapped by debris, and the crew had to abandon her. Around midnight, the High Flyer also exploded, causing more devastation and killing at least two.

The damage, in 1947 dollars, was in the millions. The official death toll was 581, including 113 people of whom no trace could be found. There may have been hundreds of unreported deaths including travelers, undocumented workers and others. Over 5,000 people were injured.

The incident spawned hundreds of lawsuits, including a class-action lawsuit under the then-new 1946 Tort Claims Act, which allowed citizens to sue the US government. The Supreme Court dismissed the biggest suit in favor of the government, on the grounds that the government had not failed in its duty to protect citizens, because the neglected safety-related duties were "discretionary." That is, the government had the choice of whether to follow safety rules or not.

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