Canadian Occupational Safety

11 2019 FEBRUARY/MARCH D o you care about safety? How could you possibly answer anything but "Of course I do!"? The fact that you are reading an article in COS is a good indication that you care enough to continue to learn more about safety. Some of you may even be in roles where you are trying to get others to care about safety as much as you do. That is a good start, but to have a strong safety culture, we must go beyond just having individuals who care and move toward a culture of caring through all levels in our organization. A strong safety culture will also need a level of caring beyond a simple, passive concern and more toward actively demonstrating care for others. Scott Geller, world-renowned health and safety researcher, began using the phrase "actively caring" in 1991 to describe this culture in organizations, and to demonstrate that effective behav- ioural approaches to safety must be built on this foundation. Caring about safety was a good start but "actively caring" meant going above and beyond what is required or mandated and going to great lengths to ensure the well-being and safety of others in the workplace. It means workers are considerate for the safety of their peers and will step up to identify hazards and substandard condi- tions that could cause harm to them. It also means workers will have the courage to approach their peers and intervene if they see them putting themselves in danger because of an at-risk behaviour. Actively caring gets its start from individuals who are compassionate, considerate and kind. These are inher- ent traits in some individuals, but others may need help in developing these attrib- utes. Geller identified the characteristics of work groups that had a penchant for caring. He found that they believed they could make a difference on safety, they felt they had a degree of control over their actions and they worked cohe- sively. These attributes can be taught, but we need to look for ways of developing these attributes in our work groups using practical and simple approaches. Yes, we could send everyone away on training and to workshops to develop these traits, but the reality is we may have to grow this culture within the workplace. Actively caring can start with con- tinually looking for hazards and at-risk conditions. Encourage the use of hazard identification tools and demonstrate how each hazard that has been cor- rected may have prevented an incident. The pre-job planning processes, such as a job safety analysis (JSA) and field level hazard assessment (FLHA), contribute to the control and cohesive aspects of a caring culture. Behaviour observations, last minute risk assessments (LMRA) and approaching others and intervening are excellent ways of making a difference on safety and building those caring traits. Actively caring is not just a front-line worker responsibility. Management must also demonstrate they care for the well- being of their workers. Management can't get people to care about their work and about each other until they show that they care about them. In the absence of continuous contact with workers, management will need an additional set of tactics to demonstrate that they care. According to Aubrey Daniels, often referred to as the father of performance management, the "A" words can be used as the management touchstone in an actively caring workplace: • Actively listening • Appreciation • Acknowledge safety accomplishments • Asking questions about the work • Attending to safety issues. Caring senior managers will be responsive to the safety needs in the workplace, such as ensuring the work- ers have access to the best personal protective equipment. They ask about the well-being of an injured worker and ensure the worker gets the best treat- ment and care. They say "Thank you" when workers put extra effort into making the workplace safer and they acknowledge the workers who have been actively caring for their peers. They rein- force the importance of workers looking DAVE FENNELL SAFETY CULTURE Is your organization actively caring? All levels must go to great lengths to ensure the well-being, safety of others out for each other in the workplace, encouraging and empowering people to intervene on behalf of others when faced with a potential at-risk situation. They provide training to their people on how to be more effective at intervention and encourage workers to be receptive and say "Thanks" when someone has intervened on them. You can't buy "actively caring" off a shelf. It cannot be purchased like a mask that is worn to portray an out- ward image. It must be sincere and heartfelt, and must come from individ- uals in the organization at all levels. It is front-line workers looking out for each other and intervening when they see others putting themselves at risk. It is supervisors encouraging everyone to approach others and intervene if they see something unsafe and making sure the workers have the resources needed to work safely. It is the actions of senior management visibly and actively caring about the people in their organization and fostering a culture that encourages the compassion and courage to actively care about others. COS Dave Fennell is an independent safety consultant and motivational speaker based in Cochrane, Alta. He is well-known for his expertise in risk tolerance, human fac- tors and behaviour-based safety. He can be reached at djfsafe1@telus.net or visit www. davefennellsafety.com for more information. You can't buy "actively caring" off a shelf. Congratulations to the following OHS professionals who have recently been granted the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) ® Professionnel en sécurité agréé du Canada (PSAC) ® designation. The BCRSP is a self-regulating, self-governing organization certified by BSI Management Systems to ISO 9001. The CRSP certification is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to ISO 17024. Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals/Conseil canadien des professionnels en sécurité agréés 6700 Century Avenue, Suite 100, Mississauga, ON L5N 6A4 905-567-7198, 1-888-279-2777, www.bcrsp.ca Nadia Afara CRSP Farhan Ali CRSP Timmy Dean David Ambrus CRSP Nicholas Aulmann CRSP Kimberly Baker CRSP Sean Bargent CRSP Alyssa Barnes CRSP Jan Barnewall CRSP Jessica Barua CRSP Martine Beaulieu-Mayer CRSP Manpreet Bhatti CRSP Leanne Billard CRSP Jason Blahun CRSP Jonathan Bock CRSP Mazen Bou Diab CRSP Rosalee Brodie CRSP Grayson Brown CRSP Brendan Buckle CRSP Alex Callejon CRSP Alexa Cartwright CRSP Colleen Caufield CRSP Ding Geng Chai CRSP Ivan Cheuk CRSP Molly Chisholm CRSP David Chony CRSP Michelle Christensen-Toews CRSP Gwen Clarida CRSP Cynthia Amrita Cole CRSP Mathew Cooper CRSP Reagan Coppicus CRSP Donald Crawford CRSP Robin Creelman CRSP Daniel Crema CRSP Christopher Michael Croft CRSP Mark Currie CRSP Marc Daigle CRSP Breanden Daniels CRSP Colette Delmaire CRSP Scott Donaldson CRSP Jeremy Dunlop CRSP Cameron Hugh Edgar CRSP Christopher Ellard CRSP Leslie Ewasko CRSP Erin Fairservice CRSP Josephine Sai Leng Fan CRSP Moradeke Farounbi CRSP Lindsay Fenton CRSP Jeffrey Fish CRSP Kevin Frey CRSP Vickie Gagne CRSP Craig Gilder CRSP Micheal Joseph Gilligan CRSP Kyle Gordon CRSP Nicole Gorman CRSP Alan Gottenbos CRSP John Wolfe Gottschalk CRSP Shane Greene CRSP Manveer Grewal CRSP Angela Grubber CRSP Rhonda Gruetzner CRSP Michel Guney CRSP Jocelyn Hall CRSP Nina Hansen CRSP Susan Harahap CRSP James Hedrick CRSP Dennis Heigh CRSP Jason Holland CRSP Brian Hollett CRSP Christine Huggatt CRSP Heidi Jamieson CRSP Ashley Jensen CRSP Christopher Johnston CRSP Randall Johnston CRSP Vanessa Johnston CRSP Karim Kafafy CRSP Alexandra Kargutkar CRSP Jason Kearley CRSP Katrina Kerschner CRSP Sze Ming (Kitty) Ki CRSP Andrew Kidd CRSP Tia Kjartanson CRSP Jessie Kunce CRSP Andy Lau CRSP Khian Lau CRSP Curtis Ledger CRSP Tara Leis CRSP Spiros Lenis CRSP Brittany D Leonard CRSP Ronald Wayne Letawsky CRSP Della Levesque CRSP Marc Lieder CRSP Orrin Little CRSP Ryan Mallard CRSP Ashleigh Marchl CRSP Douglas Sheldon McKee CRSP Robert McLean CRSP Robert McNamara CRSP Josephine Michelle Mendoza CRSP Stephen Menduk CRSP Wesley Meyerink CRSP Jonathon Miller CRSP Ashley Mortlock CRSP Derek Murphy CRSP Vincent Cheg Nche CRSP Katrina Nicholson CRSP Lisa O'Sullivan CRSP Gynelle Pakulak CRSP Robert Paniccia CRSP Dylan Parks CRSP Yessy Penny CRSP RJ Petersen CRSP Jerry Reid CRSP Mehboob Reza CRSP Monica Rosevear CRSP Martin Rowland CRSP Matthew Santucci CRSP Lori Savory CRSP Daniel Schmick CRSP John Scouten CRSP Cameron Selmer CRSP Travis Sheppard CRSP Travis Siroski CRSP Leonard Skilnick CRSP Tegan Slot CRSP Lara Smith CRSP Eric St-Hilaire CRSP Reshma Sukdhoe CRSP Kendall Sumka CRSP Lana Tanner CRSP Edward Tayag CRSP Joshua Taylor CRSP Amy Tetz CRSP Mahrshi Thakor CRSP Shane Todd CRSP Luciano Totino CRSP Susan Trac CRSP Lee Twa CRSP Nicole Urban CRSP Tony Waite CRSP Kaylee Waldner CRSP R. Lisa Waugh CRSP Benjamin Wenger CRSP Keith Winship CRSP Jason Wong CRSP Oscar Fobasso Yemelong CRSP Jamie Young CRSP Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals

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