Culture and Perception

Introduction

Over 85% of all workplace accidents and near-miss incidents are attributable, in some way, to the actions or omissions of people. This is probably not too surprising since people are involved in the majority of work related activities.

However, what is a little more surprising is that, even with good health and safety systems, properly written procedures, safe equipment and healthy premises, people still "get it wrong"!

Of course, "getting it wrong" can have disastrous consequences, including: personal suffering; property damage; loss of production; and in the more serious of cases, prosecution and civil litigation.

The concept of "people getting it wrong", even when there are control measures in place, is illustrated in the following diagram:

The above illustration shows that engineering controls, safety management systems and a competent workforce are all important aspects of driving down accidents and loss. Each of these initiatives will certainly help, however only a small gain is evident when each of these initiatives are put in place. What the diagram is really showing is that, even with all of those initiatives in place, safety performance will PLATEAU.

Continuous improvement in health and safety performance needs more than simply engineering, procedures and competence. It needs "people to get it right".

So, why do people get it wrong?

People get it wrong because they incorrectly perceive the risk within the workplace.

A person's perception is "shaped" by many things:

Based on the above "perception modelers", NGT Safety Management has developed a behavioural safety program that CHANGES PERCEPTION. By doing this, people at work will be more:

• Aware of their surroundings
• Receptive to new ideas
• Willing to stop unsafe acts or omissions
• Willing to help themselves and others to perform more safely
• Eager to participate in improvement

A behavioral safety program that is based on CHANGING PERCEPTION will almost certainly CHANGE PERFORMANCE.

Changing perception in the workplace involves the following stages:

• Cultural and perception survey
• Mapping for improved perception of the workforce
• Raising awareness of perceptive change
• Personal action planning
• Personal risk assessment and observation
• Changing perception in the organsiation

STAGE ONE -cultural and perception survey

The first step towards changing perception is to find out about the current culture in the workplace and to find out about unsafe acts and habits. This stage involves:

• Carrying out a cultural survey
• Conducting a perception analysis
• Interviewing personnel
• Assessing the safety management system

After this initial stage has been completed, the next stage is: