We are all equal

I am a person that works in the safety department. I have carried many different titles over the years. (Safety officer, safety advisor, safety specialist, safety manager, safety business partner) to name a few.

I have heard many people come into a company and say I am here to change the culture. First thing is how do they know the culture needs to be changed. To know this there needs to be a lot of time invested to find it out. I can say you are not going to go onto a 6 week or 8 week job and change the culture. It may be a nice thought but will not happen.

I was on a job once and was doing a SAFETY walk. The team I was with picked a group doing some work on a pump system. I introduced myself and asked the work team if they new why we were there. The team answered by saying yes, we know you are here to see what we are doing wrong. I then explained that we were not there for that we were there to find out what they were doing right. This company are a huge organization and speak of how good the safety culture they have. How can they have a good safety culture if the fear is finding things wrong?

Every time there is a walk in the field it should be based on building trust not fear based. If it is fear based what does this do to the team’s mental health that is doing the work?

Do they get tense and possibly make a mistake because them SAFETY walking people are coming. Would it not be better if to recognise the good things they are doing and not worry to much on the negative things. Once back in the group talk about what was spotted that may need some improvement. Then that could be passed back to the supervisor and discussed on how the job could be improved. Look to the team doing the work for your answers. They are the one doing the job so how does a SAFETY walk person know why they are doing it that way.

Many people in safety feel they are superior to others, and this could not be further from the truth. Look at your team what ever title they may have (Supervisor, Safety person, Welder, Pipelayer, Boilermaker, Labourer) to name a few as your colleague that you can learn from. Once I was on a job and asked the person what they did on this project. The answer they gave was very simple. I am just a confined space hole watch. I then went on to explain to them that it was more than just a confined space hole watch. That they had the most important position on the project. That they were the eyes and ears for many people and that many people depended on them.

Remember Safety department people you are not above anyone. We are all equal we just work in different departments but equally important.

James Parkinson

Safety at Brisbane Civil