Niles Industrial Coatings is committed to creating a culture of safety within its organization. Safety cannot be forced. We cannot watch everybody every second. Safety must come from each person. They must want to do it, and believe it is what they are supposed to do.

This kind of safety only happens by actively building a “Safety Culture”. It starts with upper management commitment. That means that we are willing to lose money or walk away from jobs because we think it is unsafe. It means sometimes telling clients “NO” in order to get them to see the light and allow our workers to do the job our way, the safe way. We must spend the time and money to commit the necessary resources to do the job safely.

Safety culture requires a clear message. That message is articulated repeatedly. It is stated at company events and meetings. It comes in the form of weekly paycheck stuffers. It is on the safety wallet card that every employee is issued. We put it everywhere and drive the point home. We also talk about on jobs. Not just the Safety Director, but EVERY management person reiterates the importance of safety and the responsibility each worker has for each other worker.

Culture change comes slowly. It takes years. As people experience safety in action, hear the messages, work safely and get rewarded for doing so, they begin to act safely and with confidence. People tell stories involving safety. “If I hadn’t been wearing my harness...” or “We were about to go in when the gas detector went off…”. These stories are our family history and they are part of how new workers are indoctrinated into our company’s family.

Talk the talk and walk the walk: that’s the old phrase. That, too, is important to culture. The actions must be consistent. Project managers need to involve safety in the planning stage so we get to the job with a safety plan written and a realistic understanding of what it will take to do the job and do it safely.

“Safety culture” is a tricky thing to nail down, but it is the culmination of the way a company acts and talks about safety and when the safety culture is good and improving, it is a powerful thing. At Niles Industrial, we are harnessing that power.