Be a Safety Champion: It’s Time To Speak Up For Safety In The Mining Industry
As we roll into National Safe Work Month, we’re shining the spotlight once again on the ever-growing importance of workplace safety. This October, we’re being asked to speak up for safety with the theme of the year centred around the notion of being a ‘safety champion’. Given the major issues facing safety in the mining industry, […]
Techniques for Managing Challenging Safety Conversations at Work
As humans, we’re generally a socially conscious species. We try to avoid negative situations, smooth over uncomfortable interactions and generally try to get along with others in social situations. The problem is that when it comes to our safety efforts, this deeply rooted notion of “playing nice” can backfire and hold us back on our […]
Warning Signs You’ve Hit a Safety Plateau
Imagine this. You’re a safety leader for a large operational site. There’s been a series of incidents and the executive team is under pressure to make a change to improve safety performance, fast. The series of events that follow look a little bit like this: First, you focus on the physical environment, reducing risk by […]
Building Trust in Teams: 4 Tips for Effective Safety Leadership
When thinking about how to develop a strong safety culture, it’ll come as no surprise that it’s heavily reliant on the relationships between your workers and your leaders. Even if leaders are actively striving to promote safe behaviours, one aspect of effective safety leadership is often overlooked—the importance of building trust. Unlike more tangible efforts […]
Why Not All Workplace Safety Assessments Are Equal
When trying to improve your organisation’s safety results, the first step is to gain a strong understanding of the current state of your workplace safety by assessing your existing safety climate and culture. That’s because trying to improve your organisation’s safety results without a clear understanding of the current state of your safety culture is […]
Safety Onboarding and Induction: What’s Said vs What’s Done
When it comes to safety onboarding and induction, it’s easy to pinpoint initiatives like compliance training and familiarisation with policies and procedures. But how often do we consider the implicit safety onboarding and induction activities in our organisation? New employees aren’t just in the process of becoming an expert in their role, they’re also in […]
How to Empower Employees to Speak Up For Safety
Psychological safety is critical to achieving a positive safety culture and minimising unwanted safety behaviours—including underreporting. With a strategic focus on creating trust, security and learning, organisations can empower employees to speak up for safety. Isaac is using a piece of heavy machinery when he notices it isn’t working like it usually does. Something feels […]
Tip the Scales in Your Favour: The Perceived Value of Safety Reporting
Underreporting of safety incidents is one of the largest issues holding back your organisation’s safety efforts. Not only does it give you a false perception about the state of your workplace safety, it also robs you of countless opportunities to prevent significant safety incidents from happening. With potential safety issues being swept under the rug, […]
The Dangers of a Compliance-Only Approach to Safety
Safety seems to be looking good. As you walk around site you notice people wearing PPE, procedures being followed, hazards being reported and teams mentioning safety during pre-starts. You stop to check the incident rate. It hasn’t changed. Team members are still getting hurt. You can’t remember the last time someone provided a suggestion to improve […]