Do you have a safety program?

Do you need one?

Can you really count on a safety program to reduce accidents?

If you're trying to improve your organization's safety culture, you're probably looking for answers to these and other questions. But what works in one environment might not work in another. So where do you start? The Answer: It depends on your level of commitment.

The Commitment Factor

There are a variety of safety programs out there. Each one has its own unique philosophy; and each one requires a different level of commitment to implement. Generally, the determining factors when selecting a safety program are:

• The level of financial commitment a company is willing to make; and
• The time and effort they're willing to commit to start and maintain the program.

The Personal Factor

Commitment is largely a reflection of the personal dedication and skills brought to bear by the organization's supervisors and managers. You can measure this by considering factors such as:

• How much time the company spends developing its supervisory/management teams; and
• How well those supervisors and managers communicate company goals, objectives and expected results.

The Commitment Spectrum

Selecting the appropriate safety program is a function of understanding the commitment level of your organization. At the low end of the commitment spectrum are the canned or pre-packaged programs. Such packages may include printed material, posters and training modules you require for training. These might require less of a commitment, but they're not necessarily cheaper. The more items prepared and supplied for you, the more you pay.

At the high end of the spectrum are behavior based safety programs that try to effect sweeping cultural changes across all levels of the organization.

In the mid-ranges are incentives and other gimmicks such as safety bingo, safety lottery tickets, giving points for reporting "near misses," holding pizza parties for extended periods without a lost time injury, etc.

Conclusion

Once you've found the perfect program for your company, enlisted the perfect consultant to help you implement it and obtained the financial commitment from management to go ahead with your plans, have you entered a state of Nirvana?

No way. Your work is just beginning.

The fact of the matter is that for a safety program to be successful, it has to be more than a program: It has to be a part of the business. Maybe it even has to be part of the business's operational objectives themselves. Now you're talking about more than a program and more than simple measurements. Now you're talking about making safety a part of everything, something built into every action and function. You get management to make that level of commitment and you've accomplished something.

LEADERSHIP QUIZ

Can You Talk the Talk of 2005?

The English language is a beautiful organism that changes all the time. That's one of the things that keeps the people who write dictionaries in business. A couple of weeks ago, the publisher of Dictionary.com unveiled its list of popular new words and phrases that made it into their dictionary in 2005. Inevitably, some of the new words and phrases came from business and management. Maybe you've heard them - or are even using them - in your organization.

Here are three new words and phrases. See if you know what they mean:

1. Dataveillance

a. Statistical research
b. Surveillance of a person's activities through electronic data
c. Monitoring of popular Star Trek character

2. Job Spill

a. Demotion
b. Workflow chart
c. Work-related task that encroaches on personal time

3. Lifestyle Office

a. An office or cubicle that reflects a person's attitudes and values
b. A workplace with different areas that may be conducive to different work styles
c. An office designed to accommodate all aspects of a person's everyday life

Answers: 1(b); 2(c); 3(b)

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