The Absence of Accidents or the Presence of Safety?

For a little levity, take a look at this short clip about a safety pizza party brought to you by Madtv.  https://youtu.be/rK8UIGkzsf8

It’s fun to watch for those of us who have been involved with safety incentives for years.  But it does bring up a point we have been preaching for a long time.  A great safety culture is not about the absence of accidents, it’s about the presence of safety. 

In over 30 years of implementing safety incentive systems, we’ve seen hundreds of safety incentives just like the one you saw in the skit.  Regardless of OSHA coming down hard on safety incentives based on lagging indicators that do nothing to foster safe behavior, $$ millions are spent each year on safety awards that do just that.

An example in the extreme that too poignantly magnifies this problem is the April 20, 2010 disaster that occurred on the BP Horizon oil rig where 11 men died from one of the worst safety disasters in history.  Prior to the accident, this rig had a perfect safety record for seven years running! Did you know that after analysis of the accident it was reported that over 400 maintenance items had not been corrected, and two of them could have given the workers more time to leave the rig and may have prevented some of the deaths?

Having signs that count the number of days without an accident, and dinners or pizza parties or tee shirts may be great ways to communicate the need for safety and even to thank your workers for being safe, and they are perfectly legitimate ways to foster a safe environment.  But they don’t change behavior? Or merely promote the absence of accidents?

If you want real behavior change you need to continuously observe and recognize safe performance.  Only then will that performance turn into a safe habit.