There are a few key ways you can tell if your safety culture is proactive or reactive. I am going to run through a few key questions I have come to hold dear to my heart. Feel free to reply with ones you use.
- How do you update your safety programs? One Proactive answer is that we take suggestions from operators on the floor and work them into our programs. One Reactive answer is that whenever someone gets hurt we find out way and then dust off the old safety program, if we can find it, and update it to prevent what created the injury.
- How do employees know about the safety program? One proactive answer is that we discuss a safety topic at the beginning of each shift (this can be daily, weekly, monthly). One reactive answer is that the employees receive the safety manual when they are hired and they should know where to find the safety programs.
- How do you communicate changes or updates to the safety program? One Proactive answer is that we have a top down chain of command that relays the change or update through several levels of employees until everyone is personally made aware of the change or update. One Reactive answer is that we change or update the safety manuals and the employees can read the changes and updates when they have time.
You can see the examples can get a bit extreme, but knowing where on the Proactive/Reactive continuum is a good step to understanding and updating your safety culture.
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