There's a rule shared by writers, communicators and advertisers alike. And it's good advice for safety supervisors, too. The rule? Know your audience! Only when you understand your audience - your employees - can you effectively persuade them to share the common goal of a safe workplace. But understanding your employees can be quite challenging when your workforce consists of individuals from different nations, religions or socio-economic backgrounds. Before you create your safety, health or environmental program, you must understand your employees' backgrounds, beliefs and values and how all of these components affect their work style and attitude toward safety. You need to conduct a cultural assessment and then tailor your safety program based on the results.

Tailoring Your Safety Program on the Results of Your Cultural Assessment

The purpose of conducting a cultural assessment is to raise your employees' awareness of the organization's safety program and the need for employees to take responsibility for the safety of everyone on the team. The type of information gained through a cultural assessment will help to determine what is influencing an employee's thinking and/or behavior so that you can design interventions accordingly.

Your goal is to have everyone recognize that all players, regardless of their background or nationality, etc., are a valuable part of the team and to work together to make sure every player is safe and able to work. Depending on your situation, you may wish to consult with a diversity expert to assist in the development and interpretation of the questionnaire.

Ideally, the questionnaire should yield valuable data you can use to train supervisors and to structure employee training and communications.

For example, language is a key factor in your efforts to manage and benefit from diversity. Nuances of meaning can be lost, and interpretations of safety material can vary greatly based on a slight difference in translation or understanding. It's essential that, as a manager, you provide the necessary tools to bridge the language barrier. This can include:

• Providing translators for safety training sessions; and
• Using specialized MSDS and labeling programs that focus on images or pictographs rather than words.

The results of your questionnaire might also indicate that you should:

• Clarify any ambiguity regarding the priority of safety, health and the environment  related to production objectives so that everyone understands that each person's safety, health and well-being comes first; and
• Have supervisors and managers elicit employees' concerns related to their own and others' safety and health, as many may be reluctant to raise these issues.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Efforts

If you've been successful, the differences that once separated your employees fade from importance and are replaced by a shared vision regarding safety, health and environmental responsibility, as well as goals and strategies for prevention. Profoundly diverse individuals with different values, beliefs and backgrounds are unified in their belief in the importance of accident, injury and incident prevention.

How do you know if you've succeeded in this effort? There are a number of measures, such as:

• Prevention of or a reduction in injuries, illnesses and environmental incidents;
• The absence of degrading or condescending comments regarding cultural differences;
• A greater willingness for employees to gently point out unsafe acts to one another, no matter who the person is;
• A willingness to participate on task teams to identify and resolve HS&E issues; and
• A more cooperative attitude between employees and managers in areas regarding, but not limited to, safety.

Conclusion

The notion of the melting pot has lost favor in recent years. As a society, our aim is no longer that diverse individuals lose their distinctions and become "one people."  Rather, we are working toward a common vision of tolerance and acceptance as we retain our distinct character within a diverse culture. The safety, health and environment program provides an exceptional vehicle for unity-building in any organization.

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