Culture Shock!

My Cultural Awakening

When I walked into my first heavy industrial facility with my old man at age 14, (yeah, I know – who the hell let’s a 14 year old into an industrial facility?), I really had no idea what to expect. Clipboard in-hand, camera in my pocket and safety glasses on my face, I remember being told, “Don’t touch anything, don’t talk to anyone. Follow behind me and take notes and pictures that I tell you to take.”

Probably pretty good advice if you’re a consultant walking an adolescent through a foundry operation, or a stamping plant.

I remember following my dad through a gray iron foundry and being amazed – and frightened – and overwhelmed. It was dirty, hot, smelled funny, the air was almost too thick to breath – AND IT WAS LOUD! I was thinking, “Why would ANYONE choose to work here?”

Then I saw what my dad did for a living – he asked questions. He asked why operations were set up the way they were. He asked about how they made the sand cores, what materials they used and how much. 

He asked how old equipment was, what was the maintenance schedule and who controlled the building ventilation system.

The thing that confused me, at the time, was that he did not ask these questions of the Management and Supervisors of the operations. He asked the employees who were working on the line. He told these folks that they “were the experts” and that they knew their operations better than anyone.

I remember the looks of disbelief on the soot-smudged faces of the employees, seemingly dumbfounded that someone would ask their opinion on what conditions were like at the operation they worked at, let alone, ask them how they thought it needed to be fixed.

In my mind, this was my first glimpse into how a business culture can affect the safety culture. Why were those employees so confused when someone showed interest in their opinions? Why did these people, most of whom had been performing these operations, in these conditions, for 20+ years feel as though it didn’t matter what they had to say?

The business culture, at that time, was what I call “Compliance Only”. That old-style, Safety guy does it all, “… it doesn’t matter what you think, this is the way it is…” attitude. It was compliance for the sake of compliance with no explanation to the people it affected as to why it was important to comply. “Do it because I said so.” 

 

The Now

Jump forward 10-years to my professional career. The prevalence of “Culture Initiatives” has expanded exponentially. Companies are asking for input, trying to make their employees happy to be there, working toward lofty goals such as “Vision Zero”, “Target Zero” and “Zero Harm”. All of these initiatives have one thing in common – responsibility for keeping yourself, and your coworkers, safe at work.

However, somewhere along the line, “compliance” became a dirty word. Mention compliance to today’s “Leader”, even in the EHS field, and you are likely to get a look that would wilt lettuce.

There is a perception in today’s businesses that, somewhere along the line, culture and continuous improvement initiatives became better than compliance. That compliance was achieved sometime in the past and a forward thinking company must look to “Human Performance” to achieve “Zero Harm” to their employees. Large companies as a whole have flipped from one end of the spectrum to the other extreme.

To clarify – I also believe that culture and accountability, along with training (or better yet, teaching) employees, including Management, the “why” behind the “what” are a critical part of any EHS program in order for it to be sustainable in the long run. Employee input on processes, integrated with roles and responsibilities of those employees, and an accountability system that drives improved performance within those processes – is the menu for a happy and healthy workplace. This is true of safety, production, quality, engineering – or any other facet of a business.

Unfortunately, you can have the most beautiful menu in the world, the most talented chef, the most helpful waitstaff – but you will still fail if your meat and potatoes are rotten.

That’s how I view compliance – meat and potatoes. The framework. The foundation - the skeleton of laws that the musculature of culture, the circulatory system of training and the skin of accountability are attached to.

We now have, in business, a polar opposite of what was happening in the 80’s and 90’s. The old “Management” culture of “Do as I say”, which led to employee disenchantment, fear of the rules, lack of understanding and sub-par results; has now been replaced with the “Leadership” culture which has led to employee entitlement, no fear of consequences, an over-abundance of information to every last detail on pretty colored boards – and sub-par results.

As is typical of our society, we have gone to an extreme, to the almost complete exclusion of the other side. Many companies over the last several years have seen decreased injury rates within their company and then leveled off and stopped at a certain rate. The argument can, and has, been made, for any number of reasons why the rates have declined. Everything from under-reporting due to incentive programs to ISO-type management systems to automation of processes.

All I can speak to is companies I have personally been involved in – and I will tell you that, in my mind, very few times has the reduction had anything to do with reduction of actual risk within the facility…or changes in safety culture in the general population of the employees.

The business culture, on the surface at least, HAS changed. Managers tout from on-high that they are concerned for their employee’s well-being, companies add Safety and Environmental metrics and accomplishments to annual business reports and public relations documents. Management repeats the mantras of stopping production and “Safety First” and refusing to work unsafely to the masses. All of this while continuing to cut maintenance of equipment and facilities, expenditures of time and money for training and replacement of outdated and obsolete equipment.

Like anything else, all the slogans in the world won’t overshadow actually fixing physical concerns that employees have while performing their jobs. A little good will and cash will go a long way to winning the hearts and minds of the general population.

Pressure still exists, at least in the mind of these employees, for production above all else, especially in hard economic times. Employees still feel that, in order to keep their jobs or in order to keep their facility open, they must do whatever it takes to keep the line moving, even if it means using a broken forktruck, or climbing into a machine to clear a jam without locking it out.

In order to achieve an environment free from hazards, companies must take a step back and bring compliance and common sense back into the equation.

Write Procedures That Make Sense

When writing procedures, don’t just copy and paste the OSHA reg and think that is going to do the trick for compliance. OSHA regulations are meant to be the framework for larger procedural documentation SPECIFIC to your operation. Too many times, I have walked into a facility that has re-written the regulation and replaced “…the employer shall…” with “XXX Company will…”, then called it a day.

Explain HOW you are going to do it, what special equipment and training are YOUR employees going to need. Specifically WHO is going to be responsible and accountable, and WHEN are you going to do it. These details will allow you to answer the tough questions like – “Why do I hafta’?” and “Who’s job is it?”

These procedures also have to make sense to the general population of employees. If the procedure doesn’t align with what your people are doing every day, than it will quickly get lost in the day-to-day operations of the plant. That’s why it’s also important to…

Ask the Experts and Communicate the “Whys” 

Get your employees involved in writing procedures and changing processes. Although I advocate bringing some “Management” back to the world of business, it must be tempered by empathy for the personnel actually performing the job.

Imagine things from the employee’s point of view. Imagine working in your office the same way, in the same place for 5 years or more. One day you come in to work and someone has moved all of your furniture, or replaced your chair and desk with a standing work station.

Imagine if they took your stapler away because you might staple your finger and they’ve guarded the blade on your tape dispenser so you don’t cut your hand. You would probably think it was over-the-top, and ridiculous, especially if you had never injured yourself on the tape dispenser and no one talked to you about why the changes were made.

Employees who have worked at a task every day, even for a few months, have adapted to that task and have a way of doing it that fits their need. Asking them what they need, offering options to make it better and explaining why changes need to be made will go a long way toward improving the reception those changes get when they are implemented.

Don’t sugar-coat the explanations. Explain the reasons in well thought out, sincere answers that are direct and to the point. Nobody wants a dissertation on why they can’t have food next to their dip-tank, they just want to know why.

Allow Employees to Champion the Cause 

This is a great way to improve safety culture within your facility, but it must be done correctly. It only makes sense, if you have an employee who is doing crane inspections for your entire facility, to make them an integral part of your crane program, but they need to have the will to do it.

An employee who only comes in to do his job and go home, may balk at any extra responsibility given, but if you approach that same employee and offer additional training, ability to oversee repairs, contact with crane vendors, input into the policies and procedures and identity as a Subject Matter Expert, they may jump at the opportunity to “own” something at work.

The important piece of the equation is to talk to the supervisor of the employee and then approach the employee directly with the opportunity. Never, (if you can help it), assign these duties to an employee before getting their input, or you will end up with a lame duck champion.

It is also vitally important to choose employees who have some “skin in the game” for these positions. An accounting person, for example, is not going to have much stake in ladder inspections. However, that same accounting person may be very passionate about emergency egress, tornado shelters or office ergonomics.

Be Approachable, Ask for Feedback and Solve the Problems 

One of the first people I look for in a new facility is the person on the floor everyone tells me to stay away from. The “Whiner”, the “Screamer”, that person who always has a complaint about safety and is ignored out of habit because of the roughness of their vocal antics.

9 out of 10 times, this person has legitimate concerns for the safety of himself and/or his co-workers, but has had difficulty getting these items addressed for one reason or another. Since they are legitimate concerns, this employee continues to push and is relegated to the position of “complainer”.

Management should be on the shop floor on a regular basis, there should be no “Carpet Dwellers” in your facility. I’m not speaking to just the Supervisors and Production Managers – I mean all the way up to the highest level of your organizational chart and everyone in-between. This should include all levels and disciplines within the organization, including EHS, Human Resources, Accounting, Purchasing, Engineering – even IT.

These visits to the floor should not be “audits”, although they can encompass some of those duties. The visits should be with the express goal of speaking with the employees on the floor to determine if they have concerns and get the “Face Time”.

They don’t have to just be about EHS concerns either. You would be amazed how many cost savings ideas my last Purchasing manager came up with on his first visit to the floor and how many IT concerns were eliminated by my IT manager asking people how they were doing once a month.

Equally, if not more important, is to ensure that these concerns are addressed – quickly. Even a communication back to the employee with a detailed explanation as to why something cannot be done will garner a TON of respect, imagine what a positive change to the process will do! 

Add Your Own Spin

The few steps I have listed are, by no means, the “silver bullet” for complete employee safety, but I have used them to my advantage every place I have worked. All of these have several advantages for the employees (who receive a feeling of participating in their work life instead of being enslaved to it), the company (who receives better numbers in safety, quality, production and profits) and the Safety Professional (who is able to focus less on the tactical items and more on the strategic aspects of the program).

Above all, be sincere, open and respond appropriately to the situation, while still ensuring that you are in compliance.

Doesn’t sound like much – right? Welcome to the wonderful world of Environmental Health and Safety Management.

By the way, keep your 14-year old out of the foundry too.

Be Safe my Fellows.