Safety from Within
Safety is the foundation for excellent business performance.
Safety has dramatically improved since the turn of the last century. However, the number of accidents, and illnesses, in the workplace has been on the rise again in recent years. But despite that observation, that was not what affected me in 2013.
From the start of my working life, safety has been high on the list. However, as a result of an event in 2013 (of course with a run-up that had started a while before), it radically changed my view on safety. A new approach to dealing with risks is needed. Safety from Within means safety based on intrinsic motivation and with a policy that is integrated into the company policy.
After my painful experiences in 2013, I started researching the possibilities for improving safety. In "Safety from Within" I provide tools to better deal with risks. It becomes clear that safety is not a "concern" file (rules, legislation, and if not "there will be fines!"), but that it is a power. The critical importance of Leadership is outlined. But also, how to better monitor safety performance. It has to provide a meaningful indication of how we are performing. Merely looking at (the number of) accidents that have occurred and how many failures took place following audits, is not adequate. But we also have to be careful with those indicators. They often give a wrong indication of performance!
How can safe behaviour be stimulated? How important is the corporate culture for safety such as psychological safety and involvement of the people who actually do the work? Where to focus?
There where it really matters instead of shooting with hail. Achieve more with less work. And how does the role of the HSE advisor fit into this new approach?
Safety from Within is not a new "management system". Still, it provides insights into how collectively and individually safety can be raised to a higher level and will prove to be a "strength" rather than a costly and challenging part of the business.
Conclusion
"Safety from Within" zooms in on - unlike many existing insights - improving safety without having to invest, additional human resources and higher costs, while at the same time having a positive effect on the other business units (quality, productivity, uptime, maintenance, etc.).