Building a Strong Safety Culture

Understand the elements of a strong safety culture and how safety incentive programs can backfire and reduce morale.

Employers are being more critically scrutinized - not just for their baseline safety and health compliance, but for the state of their safety culture. OSHA, the National Labor Relations Board, and the EEOC have entered into a joint initiative to protect workers' rights at all levels and to coordinate such protections. This brings a company's safety culture into heightened focus, as complaints to one agency can be investigated and prosecuted by any or all. In addition, more state OSHA agencies are looking to regulate safety culture in the form of mandatory safety and health management systems (SHMS). This initiative, which saw movement in the Obama administration, may gain traction again under current OSHA leadership.
This course will explain the elements of a strong safety culture, how the terms values and priorities can entrap employers, and how safety incentive programs can backfire and reduce morale or lead to more OSHA issues. We will address the role of ANSI and ISO standards in benchmarking safety, health performance, and culture. We will also cover best practices for continual improvement and improved training, communication, and risk assessment. The material will also cover how OHS culture is a key consideration in rating companies' ESG performance, critical for publicly traded companies.

Faculty

Adele L. Abrams, Esq., ASP, CMSP

Law Office of Adele L. Abrams P.C.