What a person does at work each day doesn’t begin and end with them. That notion is a big part of how companies build an industry-leading safety culture—one that goes beyond compliance to a prevailing ideology of care that prioritizes doing the right thing to protect employees and everyone who depends on them.  

A great example comes from a longtime client: As part of new hire onboarding, they ask employees to write down the names of three people who depend on them—spouse, kids, parents, whoever it might be—and to keep that somewhere they’ll see it each day.  

When you’re mindful of the people who count on you, you tend to take fewer shortcuts but also to prioritize the safety of those around you. Your co-workers are counting on you, too, and they also have three names inside their hard hat or pocket. Onward and outward it goes, the choices each person makes rippling out into the world.  

Over the past several years, I’ve seen a shift in the why behind building a safety culture, and it’s based on recognizing interdependence and the community we’re all working within. You can find plenty of great financial reasons to emphasize safety, but what seems to be compelling more and more employers now is the human impact. And although the result is the same—fewer accidents, lower insurance rates, healthier employees, and a more effective work environment—your why may shift how you approach building your own safety culture.  

How you embed a safety culture into your operation says a lot about who you are as a company. Compliance is critical, of course, but when it comes to safety culture, it’s just table stakes.  

When I talk about safety culture, I’m talking about the bigger picture of accountability, wellness, and a heavy dose of leadership commitment. It’s the shared beliefs and practices across an organization, and it depends on the attitude from the top. It’s rare, if at all, to see a strong safety culture start with frontline employees and work its way up. But in those organizations where leaders are actively engaged and drawing attention to examples of strong safety practices, the positive impact is profound.  

Maybe you’re already there. Maybe you’re just getting started. We help clients along a spectrum of safety culture maturity that looks like this:  

Where does your organization fall? Determining your current state is a great first step.  

Improving your safety culture starts by learning exactly where your strengths and opportunities lie across your organization. Our MJ Safety Culture Survey is one easy way to get that info and helps you determine and prioritize which areas to address according to industry best practices and your goals and priorities:  

We designed the survey to evaluate mature safety standards, with a focus on the human factors that tend to create obstacles for a strong safety culture. Accident investigations and audits overlook these important human-focused factors, and they’re exactly the right elements to support a high-functioning, empathetic safety culture that provides optimal financial and humanitarian benefits.  

Your safety culture is a critical element of your overall culture and the effectiveness and marketability of your organization. If you want to attract and retain safety-focused employees, your demonstrated engagement matters. That means focusing on: 

It won’t happen on its own. But it also isn’t the overwhelming task many leaders fear it will be. Knowing your why, aligning that to your organization’s goals and strategies, and learning exactly where you stand gives you a clear way forward.  

Reach out if you’re ready to improve your own safety culture.  

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