When you think of safety, the first words I hear most of the time are “safety culture.” But what does that really mean in the scope of safety and how it gets people home safe at the end of the day? So much of the success in the grain industry is attributed to efficient operations, reliable equipment, strong customer relationships and market access. However, one element often determines whether an organization thrives over the long term: its company culture.
Not all company cultures have safety built into them. So often, we think of culture as mission statements or appreciation lunches. In reality, a good safety culture means having each employee responsible for their own safety and having safety built into the company. It is not a department or a manual. A workplace either has safety built into it, or it does not.
Take TOPGUN fighter pilots, for example. Most of you might have heard Capt. Jack Becker’s keynote at GEAPS Exchange in February. His presentation, “Super Sonic Success,” captivated me with how a true safety culture can be born. Fighter pilots are trained from day one that if they make a mistake, their lives are on the line. That is why they train and practice until it is perfect, because perfection keeps you alive. But I think the biggest takeaway I had from that session was that debriefing is a huge part of what makes you successful.
Talking about our failures or mistakes is not easy, and blaming individuals for what goes wrong is a common human trait. But Capt. Jack explained that debriefing with the crew after a job can be one of the most important lessons each person takes away from a job well done or one gone awry. If a company can build that into its culture, learning how to praise the successes and learn from the failures, safety is already built into the culture.
A strong culture begins with leadership. Employees watch what leaders do far more closely than they listen to what leaders say. If supervisors lead by example and follow the rules when no one is watching, employees will emulate that behavior because of the ownership they show. Have you ever had an employee not wearing their personal protective equipment until they see a stranger walking by? As soon as they see a leader walking past them, the personal protective equipment magically reappears. That is a clear indicator that individual ownership has not taken place, and instead of demanding the PPE be put on, we should be asking why that individual only wears it when superiors show up. Are leaders on the site following suit?
Safety is one of the clearest reflections of company culture, in my opinion. Company culture and safety culture should not be separated. Instead, safety should be built into the everyday workings of a company and how it performs for its employees. It is not about complying with regulations; it is about ensuring every employee returns home safely each day. It is about creating a place where workers feel comfortable reporting hazards, asking questions, stopping work when something does not look right, and using incidents as opportunities to learn rather than occasions to blame.
Acknowledging and recognizing an employee’s contributions reinforces positive behaviors. Instead of rewarding employees for no lost-time or injury-free worksites, employees should be rewarded for meeting proactive safety goals, such as identifying hazards on the job site and implementing corrective actions to address them before a near miss or injury occurs. A good reward program is about finding proactive behaviors rather than reacting to statistics and rewarding them only when they look good.
A positive culture is not built overnight. It requires consistency, commitment and countless small decisions made every day by leaders and employees alike. It takes time and commitment, but in the end, employees will be happier, and safety will improve if the company culture is built around safety and other core values. Finding success in employees, rewarding them for it and debriefing on our failures is the ultimate guide to a thriving company.
Cadrien Livingston is director of safety for Younglove Construction LLC. You can reach out to her at cadrienl@klingercompanies.com or 712-233-3236.