Sticks and carrots

Setting up an effective safety culture takes more than threats and rewards.

Building a safety culture is very much a carrot-and-stick proposition, says Oscar Paredes, corporate safety and health manager for Qualified Contractors and chairman of the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), which offers construction curricula and safety programs, management education and craft skills assessment tools (www.nccer.org).

Each jobsite is unique
“What works on one jobsite may not work at all on another,” says Paredes. He led the safety effort on a refinery construction project in Kansas from 1998 to 2000. Fall protection was a major concern. He pulled favorite techniques out of his skill bag, but with little success.

“I tried slogans; I tried recognition programs. There were 1,000 people on this jobsite and we made an impact when we presented what happened to one fall victim on the site. When witnesses talked about what happened, we saw a turn-around in fall protection,” he says.

On another site, Paredes and the management took a stick approach to personal protective equipment (PPE) use. “We threatened to fire anyone not wearing safety glasses and gloves. But if workers were where they couldn’t be seen, they wouldn’t comply.

“We took an opposite approach when we saw it wasn’t working. We suggested they wear PPE because it was the right thing to do to protect their families. We appealed to their sense of responsibility. Within a month, we had a dramatic turn-around in PPE use,” he says.

Make it a team effort
It takes more than management commitment to have a successful safety culture. “Many managers say, ‘Safety first,’ until dollars are on the line. When top production is needed, they back down.” That’s why it’s good to have a safety team made up of labor and management.

“With every job, there are almost always different contractors on the site. If you get the contractors involved with the safety program, there is more buy-in. They can also have some very good ideas on how to address safety concerns,” he says.

Safety strategies that work
Over the years, Paredes found that the best safety ideas rely on positive reinforcement. Try these and gauge their effects:

Silver dollar program. Paredes finds handing out a silver dollar to a worker doing something correctly can pay huge safety dividends. “It’s spontaneous. You ‘catch’ a worker doing something right and he or she gets rewarded,” he says.

Establish a crew of the week or crew of the month safety award. “This doesn’t have to be an expensive award, but make sure workers are recognized publicly for their accomplishment. Workers like the recognition even more than the award,” he says.

Listen up and instigate change. “If an employee tells you a piece of PPE you want him or her to wear is too big or too tight and you do something about it, that person will very likely use it because you addressed the concern,” he says.

Continue training, even if the work crew has worked together before. “Work crews are often the same from job to job, and it’s soon taken for granted that everyone is aware of work and safety rules. Then, new employees aren’t trained in a formal way to work safely,” he says. Retraining workers reinforces the importance of working safely.

Follow through with what is taught in safety training. Worse than not offering new workers any safety training is to train them and then turn them loose on a jobsite where the rules aren’t followed. “I was involved with one job where new workers reported problems with housekeeping, fall protection and PPE use. Their training was thorough, but when they went to work, rules weren’t followed. What signal does that send?” he asks.

Empower the safety professional to get things done. “A safety advisor once asked a foreman to set up a barrier around a work area. The foreman took his request as, ‘Get to it when you can,’ instead of, ‘Do it right away.’ When the safety advisor went to management to push the issue, nothing happened. That sent a signal that safety wasn’t important. Unfortunately, three workers were killed in less than three months on that job and the contractor lost the job because of the poor safety record,” he says.

General contractors must communicate safety expectations to specialty and subcontractors. General contractors often have a more proactive safety attitude because of their financial exposure and larger size. Some smaller contractors don’t think OSHA rules apply to them and there is no safety incentive imposed by the general contractor. “That is changing now as roll-up insurance programs cover all facets of the jobsite to reduce insurance costs,” he says.

Put safety training in the budget. “People don’t think about the cost of training until the need arises and there isn’t money available. By putting safety training in the budget, it is more likely to get done,” he says.

Track training efforts. Paredes has developed a database as a way to track safety training for all employees. “It’s a part of our commitment to assure our workers are properly trained. It also can help show OSHA investigators that the intent or spirit was there to follow effective safety practices,” he says.

OSHA employees are your friends – really! Forget the old joke, “I am with the government and I am here to help…”. OSHA’s efforts now focus on the most common and most deadly accidents and how to prevent them. OSHA fines and inspections are still a part of the effort, but training and education are its first lines of offense. OSHA concentrates on the most deadly and dangerous activities, and looks for ways to lower those numbers. It has many resources to accomplish this,” he says.

Use a safety slogan contest. Paredes finds that a slogan contest accomplishes two things: First, the winning slogan sets up a feeling of ownership for the safety idea; second, it gets workers thinking about the safety point while they are thinking up their winning safety slogan. “When you get workers thinking about a safety slogan, they repeat the safety practice many times in their heads as they work. It’s almost like a mantra and, in turn, they have a higher awareness about the safety practice and are more likely to follow it.” Paredes suggests producing the winning slogan on posters or stickers for lunch boxes or toolboxes.

Make toolbox talks meaningful
If workers look forward to toolbox talks about as much as they look forward to oral surgery, it may be time to mix them up a bit. Paredes offers some helpful ways to get greater interaction and acceptance of toolbox talks:

Invite guest speakers. Local health care professionals like to share their knowledge. Similarly, companies that sell fall protection or other safety equipment like to get face time with end-users.

“They don’t have to be scheduled every day, but an expert in the field can share some valuable, credible insight,” Paredes says.

Ask specialty trade workers to share their knowledge. A presentation about electrical safety from an electrician or a talk from an iron worker who uses fall protection all of the time on the job can add valuable insight that other workers will respect. Work with the presenter to assure all points are covered.

Look to the American Society of Safety Engineers for advice. “They have access to the latest thinking about safety practices and may be able to share some new ways to protect workers,” he says.

Other resources
Paredes recommends setting up a suggestion box just for safety ideas or concerns. “It’s a great tool for those who are shy or intimidated by making suggestions or passing along concerns,” says Paredes. “Share the questions or concerns in the suggestion box and identify the actions taken as a result of the suggestion. That feedback is important because it shows the company takes safety seriously,” he says.

Finally, Paredes suggests using the Internet for helpful safety information. “The Archives section of www.contractortoolsandsupplies.com contains many tool- and job-specific stories that address safety concerns and best practices. It’s one of many Web sites out there that can offer helpful safety information,” he concludes.

Published in the January/February 2005 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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