Title: The Integral Role Industrial Hygiene and Safety Professionals Play in Implementing a Safety Culture
1The Integral Role Industrial Hygiene and Safety
Professionals Play in Implementing a Safety
Culture
- Dina M. Siegel
- CIH, CSP, CBSP
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
2Culture? Safety Culture?
- Culture is (International Atomic Agency)
- societal memory
- what we have always done
- how people look at their environment and
themselves - assumptions
- several levels
- artifacts
- values
- basic assumptions
- Safety culture is
- understanding of catastrophic consequences when
control is relinquished - recognition that attention to safety is essential
to performing mission
3Hey, what is our role anyway? The role of an IH
as defined by AIHA
- Protecting People The goal of the industrial
hygienist is to keep workers, their families, and
the community healthy and safe. They play a vital
part in ensuring that federal, state, and local
laws and regulations are followed in the work
environment. - Industrial Hygienists Work With the Issues That
Concern Us All
4Typical roles of the industrial hygienist (AIHA)
5OSHAs view
- Creating a Safety Culture is the single greatest
impact on accident reduction of any process. It
is for this single reason that developing these
cultures should be top priority for all managers
and supervisors.Safety cultures consist of
shared beliefs, practices, and attitudes that
exist at an establishment. Culture is the
atmosphere created by those beliefs and attitudes
which shape our behavior. An organizations safety
culture is the result of a number of factors.
6OSHAs view, cont.
- Factors
- Management and employee norms, assumptions,
attitudes, beliefs - Values, myths, stories
- Policies and procedures
- Supervisor priorities, responsibilities and
accountability - Production and bottom line pressures vs. quality
issues - Actions or lack of action to correct unsafe
behaviors - Employee training and motivation
- Employee involvement or "buy-in"
7OSHAs view, cont.
- In a strong safety culture, everyone feels
responsible for safety and pursues it on a daily
basis. - A company with a strong safety culture typically
experiences few at-risk behaviors. - Creating a safety culture takes time.
- Top management support of a safety culture often
results in acquiring a safety director, providing
resources for accident investigations, and safety
training. - Further progress toward a true safety culture
uses accountability systems. - Any process that brings all levels within the
organization together to work on a common goal
that everyone holds in high value will strengthen
the organizational culture. - .
8OSHAs steps to developing a safety culture (1)
- Define safety responsibilities for all levels of
the organization - Develop upstream measures
- Align management and supervisors
- Implement a process that holds managers and
supervisors accountable - Evaluate and rebuild any incentives
disciplinary systems for safety and health - Ensure the safety committee is functioning
appropriately - Provide multiple paths for employees to bring
suggestions, concerns, or problems forward. - Develop a system that tracks and ensures the
timeliness in hazard correction. - Ensure reporting of injuries, first aids, and
near misses. - Evaluate and rebuild the incident investigation
system - Obtain Top Management "Buy-in
- Continue Building "Buy-in
- Build Trust
- Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking
- Initial Training
- Establish a Steering Committee
- Develop Site Safety Vision, key policies, goals,
measures, and strategic and operational plans. - Align the Organization. Define Specific Roles
and responsibilities Develop a System of
Accountability - Develop Measures and an ongoing measurement and
feedback system.
- Define safety responsibilities for all levels of
the organization. - Develop upstream measures.
- Align management and supervisors.
- Implement a process that holds managers and
supervisors accountable. - Evaluate and rebuild any incentives
disciplinary systems for safety and health. - Ensure the safety committee is functioning
appropriately. - Provide multiple paths for employees to bring
suggestions, concerns, or problems forward. - Develop a system that tracks and ensures the
timeliness in hazard correction.
9OSHAs steps to developing a safety culture (2)
- Define safety responsibilities for all levels of
the organization - Develop upstream measures
- Align management and supervisors
- Implement a process that holds managers and
supervisors accountable - Evaluate and rebuild any incentives
disciplinary systems for safety and health - Ensure the safety committee is functioning
appropriately - Provide multiple paths for employees to bring
suggestions, concerns, or problems forward. - Develop a system that tracks and ensures the
timeliness in hazard correction. - Ensure reporting of injuries, first aids, and
near misses. - Evaluate and rebuild the incident investigation
system - Obtain Top Management "Buy-in
- Continue Building "Buy-in
- Build Trust
- Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking
- Initial Training
- Establish a Steering Committee
- Develop Site Safety Vision, key policies, goals,
measures, and strategic and operational plans. - Align the Organization. Define Specific Roles
and responsibilities Develop a System of
Accountability - Develop Measures and an ongoing measurement and
feedback system.
- Ensure reporting of injuries, first aids, and
near misses. - Evaluate and rebuild the incident investigation
system. - Obtain top management buy-in.
- Continue building buy-in.
- Build trust.
- Conduct self assessments/benchmarking.
- Initial training.
- Establish a Steering Committee.
- Develop Site Safety Vision, key policies, goals,
measures, and strategic and operational plans. - Align the organization.
10OSHAs steps to developing a safety culture (3)
- Define safety responsibilities for all levels of
the organization - Develop upstream measures
- Align management and supervisors
- Implement a process that holds managers and
supervisors accountable - Evaluate and rebuild any incentives
disciplinary systems for safety and health - Ensure the safety committee is functioning
appropriately - Provide multiple paths for employees to bring
suggestions, concerns, or problems forward. - Develop a system that tracks and ensures the
timeliness in hazard correction. - Ensure reporting of injuries, first aids, and
near misses. - Evaluate and rebuild the incident investigation
system - Obtain Top Management "Buy-in
- Continue Building "Buy-in
- Build Trust
- Conduct Self Assessments/Bench Marking
- Initial Training
- Establish a Steering Committee
- Develop Site Safety Vision, key policies, goals,
measures, and strategic and operational plans. - Align the Organization. Define Specific Roles
and responsibilities Develop a System of
Accountability - Develop Measures and an ongoing measurement and
feedback system.
- Define specific roles and responsibilities.
- Develop a system of accountability.
- Develop measures and an ongoing measurement and
feedback system. - Develop policies for recognition, rewards,
incentives, and ceremonies. - Awareness training and kick-off.
- Implement process changes via involvement of
management, union (if one is present), and
employees using a "Plan To Act" process /Total
Quality Management (TQM). - Continually measure performance, communicate
results, and celebrate successes. - On-going support.
11What does safety culture mean in DOE/NNSA?
- DOE strives to provide an open culture that not
only embraces, but also actively seeks out
evidence of potential problems so that any
problems can be corrected in a timely manner .
(Glenn Podonsky, DNSFB, May 22, 2012) - December 5, 2011 DOE memo
- Safety culture issues underline need for
intensified effort - Broad assessment of safety culture within DOE
- Responsibilities
- DOE Central Technical Authorities (CTAs)
Ultimate responsibility, provide authority to
line managers for establishing achieving and
maintaining stringent safety performance
expectation and requirements - Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS)
Collaboration with CTA for safety policy and
identification of OFIs/best practices,
independent oversight and regulatory enforcement - Defense Nuclear Facility safety Board
recommendations and oversight - Integrated Safety Management System Guide 450.4-1
C, Safety through Standards and Managing Risk
12What does safety culture mean in DOE/NNSA for
contractors?
- Carry out DOE/NNSA direction while fostering a
work environment where every individual accepts
responsibility for safe mission performance,
demonstrates a questioning attitude and awareness
of work conditions that may affect safety, and
assists other employees and contractors in
discouraging unsafe acts or practices.
13Safety culture definitions
- INSAG-4 Safety culture is that assembly of
characteristics and attitudes in organizations
and individuals which establishes that as an
overriding priority, nuclear plant safety issues
receive the attention warranted by their
significance. (created after the Chernobyl
Accident) - ACSNI Human Factors Study Group (UK) Safety
culture is the product of individual and group
values, attitudes, competencies and patterns of
behaviour that determine the commitment to, and
the style and proficiency of an organizations
health and safety programmes. Organizations with
a positive safety culture are characterized by
communications founded on mutual trust, by shared
perceptions of the importance of safety and by
confidence in the efficacy of preventive
measures. - NRC A good safety culture in a nuclear
installation is a reflection of the values, which
are shared throughout all levels of the
organization and which are based on the belief
that safety is important and that it is
everyone's responsibility.
International Nuclear Safety Advisory
Group Nuclear Regulatory Commission
14You need Good to Great Operational Safety first!
- Safety integrated into all aspects of an
organizations activities - Strategic planning
- Senior management involvement
- Communication with employees
- Risk Control
- Risk assessments
- Controls implemented
- Documented
- Safety Management Systems
- Metrics
- Training
- Attitude
- Employee Involvement
15Safety Culture
- Artifacts
- Policies and procedures
- Incident rates
- Injury/illness rates
- Awards and recognition
- Using Personal Protective Equipment
- Values
- Safety is highest priority
- No finger pointing
- Lessons to be learned
- Assumptions
- Careless and clumsy people cause accidents
- Some level of risk is always involved
- Continuous improvement always possible
16Artifacts
- Management commitment to safety/Leadership
- SAS (think SAT)
- Self Assessments
- Business drivers
- No science/production vs. safety
- Good relationship with stakeholders
- Proactive
- Change management
- Quality
- Compliance
- Qualified/competent staff
- R2/A2
- Motivation/job satisfaction
- Employee involvement
- Working conditions
- Measurements
- Resource allocation
- Collaboration/teamwork
- Conflict resolution
- Manager/employee relationship
- housekeeping
- Questioning attitude
- Knowledge of man/operation interfaces
17Values Assumptions
- Safety is a high priority
- Safety can always be improved
- Open communication
- Organization learning
- Formal training
- Lessons learned
- Learning teams
- View of mistakes
- View of safety
- View of people
- Systems thinking
- Manager role
- Leadership
- Coaching
- Support for safety improvement
18The three stages
- Stage 1 Safety is based on rules and regulations
- Stage 2 Safety is considered an organizational
goal - Stage 3 Safety can always be improved
- An organization can exhibit any or all
characteristics of multiple stages
19Stage 1
20Stage 2
21Stage 3
- Problems anticipated and dealt with before they
occur. - Good collaboration
- No goal conflict between safety and production.
- Almost all mistakes are viewed in terms of
process variability with the emphasis placed on
understanding what has happened, rather than
finding someone to blame. - Management's role is seen as coaching people to
improve performance. - Learning from others, both inside and outside the
organization, is valued. - People are respected and valued for their
contribution. - The relationship between management and employees
is mutually supportive. - People are aware of the impact of cultural
issues, and these are considered in decision
making. - People are rewarded for improving processes, as
well as results. - People are considered to be an important part of
organizational systems with attention given to
satisfying their needs, and not just to achieve
technical efficiency.
22So what is the IH/IS role in all of this?
- As a professional
- Risk assessment
- Worksite analysis
- Exposure assessment
- Self assessment of programs
- Recommendations for controls
- Communication up and down and across (ESH
management, Line managers, workers, regulators) - Integrated safety evaluations (MSAs, etc.)
- Environmental, rad, other SMEs.
- IH/S Programs
- Performance indicators
- Walk arounds
- Annual assessments
23So what is the IH/IS role in all of this?
- As a worker
- Do you have some control over the outcome of the
events? - Treat errors as learning opportunities
- Overexposures
- Own personal safety
24Safety cultures can weaken over time
- Stage 1 Over-confidence
- Good past performance leading to
self-satisfaction. - Stage 2 Complacency
- Occurrence of minor events that are subjected to
minimum self-assessment, and delay in improvement
programs. - Stage 3 Denial
- Number of minor events increases, with possibly
a more significant event. These are treated as
isolated events. Findings from audits are
considered invalid. Root cause analysis not used. - Stage 4 Danger
- Several potentially serious events occur but
management and employees reject criticism from
audits or regulator, by considering their views
biased. The oversight function is afraid to
confront management. - Stage 5 Collapse
- Regulator intervenes to implement special
evaluations. Management is overwhelmed and may
need to be replaced. Major and very costly
improvement needs to be implemented.
25What can you do?
- Be creative and open to change
- Work within teams, not individually
- Listen
- Coach
- Take personal ownership for the change
26What else can you do?
- Do you have some sort of worker involvement
teams? Get involved with them! - LANL-WSST
- Others?
27Integration of IH role with Safety culture
28References
- IAEA-TECDOC-1329 Safety culture in nuclear
installations, Guidance for use in the
enhancement of safety culture, December 2002 - Recommendation 20111 to the Secretary of Energy,
Safety Culture at the Waste Treatment and
Immobilization Plant, Pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
2286a(a)(5), Atomic Energy Act of 1954, As
Amended Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Public Meeting, Statement of Glenn S. Podonsky,
Chief Health Safety and Security Officer, Office
of Health Safety and Security, US. Department of
Energy, May 22, 2012. - Department of Energy's (DOE's) Implementation
Plan (IP) for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety
Board (Board) Recommendation 2011-1, Safety
Culture at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization
Plant (WTP). - AIHA.org
- OSHA.gov
29Safety Culture
- Thank you!
- Dina Siegel
- 505 665 2977
- dinas_at_lanl.gov