Changing Culture To Improve Safety

The Metals Service Center Institute has made a new white paper available to members. The report, “Why Culture is #1,” by Optimum Safety Management explores how culture influences workplace safety.

The authors conclude that when work teams are disengaged with their projects and their peers and when employees have fearful relationships with management, workers get hurt. Why? The culture is corrosive. This distrust, for example, could lead to an employee to disregard personal protective equipment even though they have been told to, and trained how, to use it.

Implementing strategies to avoid workplace injuries is not enough, the authors advise. The report warns, “Injury rates will not decrease in your organization by putting together a great strategy. Injury rates [will] decrease by changing the culture and empowering employees to make great decisions.”

The good news: change is possible. In the report, Optimum Safety Management explores best practices that have been proven to strengthen culture, reduce injuries and retain profitability. Optimum Safety Management implemented these practices over an eight year span and the result was a 76 percent reduction in injury rates.

Want to learn more? Login and download the report here.