Department of Defense Voluntary Protection Programs Center of Excellence Development, Validation, Implementation and Enhancement for a Voluntary Protection Programs Center of Excellence (VPP CX) Capability for the Department of Defense Department of Defense Voluntary Protection Programs Center of Excellence Changing Workplace Attitudes Development, Validation, Implementation and Enhancement for a Voluntary Protection Programs Center of Excellence (VPP CX) Capability for the Department of Defense

Objectives After this training you will be able to: Honestly assess your site’s current commitment to occupational safety and health, including managers, supervisors, and employees at every level Determine your ultimate goal Develop feasible objectives to achieve your goals Continually assess your site’s progress and improve attitudes..

Why Change? Developing a solid safety and health culture will impact your workplace by progressively moving from reactive to preventive behaviors More than any other process, the culture of a workplace has the single greatest impact on injury and illness experience. Image courtesy of defenselink.mil

Why Change? VPP sites have proven over time that the costs of unsafe and unhealthy behaviors can no longer be ignored Workplace behaviors impact behaviors in other areas such as: – Productivity (readiness) – Morale – Management and employee relations – Turnover rates – Off-the-job activities at home, in the community, and at other worksites.

What is a Safety and Health Culture? Workplace safety and health (S&H) cultures consist of common: –Beliefs –Attitudes –Values –Behaviors At a VPP Star site, you can “feel” the excitement of a positive culture At a non-VPP site the attitude is “This is just another program or it will never work”.

Typical Roadblocks Do I REALLY want to know what the current culture is? We’ve been operating this way for generations, injuries and illnesses are a cost of doing business “It will never happen to me” mentality Poor communication and listening skills “What’s in it for me?” Limited resources.

Typical Roadblocks Not willing to take personal responsibility Shifting blame or responsibility (that’s Safety’s job) Double standards Fear and lack of trust (Management vs. Labor vs. OSHA attitude) Failure to utilize the most knowledgeable persons

Beginning The Change Determine a baseline for your site’s “Vital Signs” Conduct a survey that is specific to the workplace Check egos at the door Visit other workplaces that have achieved safety and health excellence.

Assessing the Attitude Read the walls Assess housekeeping Talk with employees on a common ground Do employees run away from you or to you with ideas? Is there a spirit of cooperation or annoyance? Attitude is Everything!

Ordinary to World Class OrdinaryWorld Class Safety is firstSound S&HMS systems enhance productivity and readiness and reduce costs Management is responsible for occupational injuries and illnesses EVERYONE is responsible! Top down management is the protocol Top down in addition to bottom up = a partnership that works

Ordinary to World Class OrdinaryWorld Class Slowly lowering injury/illness/accident goals are established and tracked ALL injuries, illnesses and near misses are investigated Incident rates are primary method used to measure performance Recognize incident rates often measure failure Use other metrics – Committee meeting participation – Volume of safety related discussions/concerns – Safety and health project completion – Observations of safe work – Safety culture survey results

Ordinary to World Class OrdinaryWorld Class Employees sometimes receive special pay or compensation for working safely – Compensating for working safely seldom improves performance Immediate and visible recognition for S&H performance – All appreciate being recognized – Especially effective when given by senior management in presence of peers – No one can get too much recognition for a good job

Ordinary to World Class OrdinaryWorld Class Corrective actions are typically easy to implement – Tend to avoid hard or difficult fixes – Do not typically address personal accountability – Rarely solve the true root cause – Usually do not include input from employees Address the difficult issues Always hold personnel accountable for substandard S&H performance There is a mutual respect between leadership and labor Solve problems at the true root cause, without a tendency to blame employees

Ordinary to World Class OrdinaryWorld Class Leaders and employees are sensitive to criticism and tend to avoid it Leaders and employees focus on resolution, without blame or fear of reprisal Use feedback to improve performance Suggestions for improvement are encouraged, received and given openly Assessments are on-going and areas needing improvement are promptly addressed and freely shared

It’s a New Day Management should involve labor as early as possible Establishing a steering committee, with sub- committees that mirror the VPP model have proven very effective Ad hoc committees should also be created to address areas that need special attention.

Continuous Improvement Routinely take the vital signs of your worksite: At least annually, analyze the entire S&H management system –Encourage employees to be involved in every level –Detect early signs and causes of negative behaviors/attitudes and adjust accordingly –Visit the work areas, and every shift –Interview managers, supervisors and employees –Review documentation and revise as needed –Reward and recognize (locally, regionally, nationally).

Summary In this presentation, you learned about: –Assessing your site’s current commitment to occupational safety and health, including managers, supervisors, and employees at every level –Your ultimate goal –Feasible objectives to achieve your goals –Assessing your site’s progress and improve attitudes.