Managing for World Class Safety (PDF)

Despite the extensive literature on safety, few tools have been
available to help managers quantitatively assess the level of
safety management and the quality of the safety practices in
organizations. In his consulting practice, Dr. Jim Stewart, a
former executive at DuPont, developed such a method, crafting a
safety survey centering on a comprehensive questionnaire for
employees at all levels, that reveals the true level of corporate
commitment to safety.

Managing for World Class Safety first describes the model
of safety management that underpins the questionnaire and then
demonstrates how this innovative procedure illuminates critical
intangibles like management commitment, the enforcement of rules,
worker involvement, and injury investigation.

The central part of this book is the description of research at
the University of Toronto that applies the questionnaire in
comprehensive research at five of the world's safest
companies and five with very poor safety. The questionnaire polled
700 people in the ten companies, "measuring" the level of more than
twenty key elements such as:

* The workers' perception of the priority given to
safety

* The belief that all injuries can be prevented

* The extent to which line management takes
responsibility/accountability for safety

* How well safety rules are followed and enforced

* The frequency and quality of safety meetings

* The level of recognition to reinforce safety excellence

* In every element, the contrast between the responses from the
very safe companies and those from the companies with poor safety
was dramatic, clearly depicting where the former succeed and the
latter fail

By developing quantitative benchmark data, Stewart reasons that it
will be easier to convince reluctant management to undertake the
fundamental change necessary for a "step change" in their company
performance. Managing for World Class Safety promises a
revolutionary new approach to workplace safety improvement for
corporate leaders, safety professionals, and regulators.