Safety is the most underrated parameter in many organizations. Putting only posters with safety messages does not help it. Are these posters effective in changing employee behavior in sustainable ways? Organizations should think beyond just putting the safety posters on the walls. They should consider safety as a core value and educate employees by investing in safety training and protective equipment required by law.

More and more organizations should work towards embracing a safety culture in a sustainable way. They should work on below mentioned 3 misconceptions that are keeping them from incorporating safety into the organization’s culture:

• Organizations should work on building a balance between safety and culture. The current ways and means focus too much on safety parameters and less on the culture side. Organizations should strike a balance between safety and culture to truly drive safety culture.
• Organizations should assess the root cause of unsafe events. It helps to create a sustainable environment. Organizations should be able to identify risks before they result in accidents. Employees should not hide the near misses in the fear of punishment. Instead, employees should be recognized for recording the near misses should and breaches before they happen.
• Organizations should create clarity and orientation about this mission, vision, and how their teams and employees work together, will not only achieve better safety performance but will also be ahead of their competitors in other important performance parameters such as sales, market share, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.

At the end of the day, creating a culture of safety is not about attractive safety quotes, slogans, or posters. It must become a part of the organization’s DNA. Organizations should start finding the balance between safety and culture. Only then will they be able to meaningful and sustainable changes in the organization to create a safe culture.

Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri