The safety culture is established by leadership. If the CEO and COO take safety seriously, it shows up as education, safe processes, and personal protection.
Who manages the safety program? Line managers? Executives?
Safety programs should be a collaborative effort to create a safe workplace. Safety management, to be most effective, must reflect that ethic.
Line or labor workers should be represented, supervisors, supply chain people, maintenance workers, loaders and drivers, office workers, management and the executive suite in a limited capacity to set budget priorities or explain constraints.
Establish responsibility for safety, which in turn establishes authority. Everyone should be vigilant and everyone aware. Committee members should be responsible to report safety issues inherent in their specialty and to bring up issues reported by coworkers.
For specialized hazards and controls, see Workplace Safety: Chemicals, Safety Culture, Mobility Risks & Internal Controls as an example resource for identifying and managing specific risks.
Equally important, bring to the committee any suggestion that improves operations or safety, or both.
Improved operations and the collaborative safety culture are symbiotic, not exclusive. Doing tasks better and more efficiently is part of doing them safely.
Build collaborative trust by encouraging participation in a fully vertically integrated manner. Safety and process improvement are open topics of discussion from any organizational level to anyone in the organization.
One case study involved an awning company which manufactured units in the chronological order of acceptance. This process required changing the fabric spool more often to match the color to the order properly, and changing fabric rolls was risky and inefficient.
The line workers had wondered about this requirement for years. They asked why not run reds on Monday, blues on Tuesday, and so on as orders were batched. Managers followed tradition because "it's the way dad did it"—the founder's legacy from a time when changing fabric was less of a headache because awnings were dyed after assembly, so completing orders in sequence made sense then.
The newly established safety committee changed the process to batched orders, justified by decreased risk to employees who otherwise changed almost-full rolls of fabric frequently. A side effect was an increase in manufacturing efficiency of over fifty percent.
This case study demonstrates the importance of CEO leadership in a safety program; prior to the change, leadership supported a poorly designed program.
The case study also demonstrates the importance of vertical open communications and respecting everyone's point of view. For related guidance on communicating safety practices across an organization, see Workplace Safety Communication and Practices.
Lastly, it demonstrates that good business reasons should carry the burden of proof rather than tradition.
If you have questions about insurance coverage related to workplace safety, talk to an agent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should sit on a workplace safety committee?
A representative cross-section of employees should participate, including line workers, supervisors, maintenance, supply chain staff, and limited executive representation for budgeting and policy decisions.
How does leadership influence safety culture?
Leaders set priorities and provide resources; when executives visibly support safety, it encourages training, safer processes, and better personal protective practices across the organization.
Can safety improvements also increase efficiency?
Yes; changes that reduce risk—like batching operations to reduce hazardous tasks—often produce measurable efficiency gains as well.
What is the committee’s role in reporting hazards?
Committee members should report hazards in their area, bring concerns raised by coworkers, and propose practical improvements to operations and safety.