Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/440030
27 AGGREGATES MANAGER January 2015 SAFETY EXCELLENCE Top management is visibly committed. Middle management is actively involved. Front-line supervision is performance-focused. Employees are actively participating. System is flexible to accommodate the culture. Safety system is positively perceived by the workforce. Six Criteria for Safety Excellence novel ideas for safety improvement. The number one way to enhance employee involvement in your safety initiatives is to invite them to be problem solvers. One organization that has shifted away from leadership mandates to an approach that not only seeks the opinions of its frontline employees on safety issues, but capitalizes on their problem-solving ca- pabilities is Dolese Bros. Co. Leaders at the Oklahoma City-based company have engaged their hourly employees and frontline supervisors in safety improve- ment teams to solve specific issues, much different from the typical safety commit- tee (Dr. Petersen views safety commit- tees as one of the least effective routes to employee involvement). A continuous improvement team member at Dolese recently shared his thoughts about the cultural shift taking place. "This is a really big deal, very exciting, for everyone on the safety continuous improvement team. This is the only time I've ever seen up- per management ask for hourly employee opinions, and it makes sense. We're the ones ultimately seeing and dealing with the issues." The benefits of active employee partici- pation or creating a culture of authentic involvement go way beyond safety, as this approach will positively contribute to: • Employee retention and job satisfac- tion; • Improvements in quality and customer service due to elevated pride in the work being performed; and • Opportunities to improve production through the same involvement process being applied to safety. Within your organization, there are nu- merous ways to ensure employee involve- ment in safety. On a day-to-day basis, consider the following opportunities: • On some frequency, establish manage- ment presence on the job site. Manage- ment's role is to show up positively by asking employees questions on the work they are performing, how it can be done safer, recognizing what they are doing well, and generally showing care. • Provide supervisors with skills train- ing, as identified in my article in the December issue, on how to identify and capitalize on teachable moments throughout the day to reinforce the de- sired behaviors and positively coach up employees. • Actively engage employees in conduct- ing safety meetings (or at least creating engaging safety meetings), conducting a job hazard analysis with their super- visor, and spending time looking for hazards or making inspections. Consider creating improvement teams consisting of frontline employees, supervi- sors, and an executive sponsor to solve specific safety issues. These teams can work on improving existing safety pro- cesses, such as a management-mandated, behavior-based program (observation pro- gram), or improving the safety toolbox talks to be meaningful to frontline employees. The question is are you ready and will- ing to listen to, involve, and engage your employees in improving your organiza- tions safety system? Would you describe your current safety management systems as any one of the following? • Compliance and regulations-focused; • Command and control (top down man- dates); • Luck and hope; or • Behavior-based. If your answer is yes, then it will take time to establish an engagement-based safety management system that meets the definitions of active participation and authentic involvement. I started this ar- ticle by saying leaders want and desire employees who will take responsibility for safety. As Dr. Petersen said in his book Authentic Involvement, "… employees are perfectly willing to accept their 're- sponsibility' when management has first demonstrated that they are fulfilling their 'responsibility.'" Remember that all em- ployees can detect insincerity, so be gen- uine in your efforts to engage them in a meaningful way. If they see that you care and demonstrate that their involvement is real, they, too, will care and be motivated to deliver excellence in safety. In the next and final article of this series, I will cover Dr. Petersen's fifth and six cri- teria to safety excellence: system is flexible to accommodate the culture, and safety system is positively perceived by the workforce. I will also provide you with a series of questions, covering the Six Crite- ria to Safety Excellence, to help you assess your existing safety culture and identify opportunities for improvement. AM Zach Knoop is a senior safety consultant and project manager for Caterpillar Safety Services. He works with Caterpillar customers in the ag- gregates and construction industries to coach leaders, train supervisors, and engage employ- ees in building cultures of safety excellence. He can be reached at SafetyServices@cat.com.