Accountability for safety

In an article in Safety Center on accountability for safety, Bob Lapidus, Safety Management Specialist gave following five steps.

1. Create written safety policies and procedures
2. Train employees on the safety policies and procedures
3. Provide all the necessary equipment to do the assigned work
4. Hold everyone accountable for compliance
5. Both supervisors and employees provide feedback as to how work is being done Corrective action is taken as necessary

Accountability means, in his words, praising when correct things done and correcting when things are done the improperly. It should not be like knee jerk reaction to punish people when something goes wrong.
While writing safety policy and safety procedures, I feel, it should be written by involving all concerned employees. If it is written by manager or consultant in his office without interaction and active participation of employees, the ownership for the document will not exist with the concerned shopfloor employees and it is likely that they may not like to read and follow.
 

Safety Policy of an organization - The Best Statement

Over a period of time, I subscribed many e-news letters which spread safety awareness with their free communication. In one such news letter, I found mention of a company which worked for 33.0 million man-hours without a reportable accident. I went through its website and found a mission statement which I liked very much. The company is S & B Engineers and Constructors Ltd of USA (www.sbec.com)involved in engineering, procurement and construction with about 3500 employee. There were no reportable accidents from 1994The mission statement reads as follows:

"We make NO compromise with respect to Morality, Ethics, and Safety. If a design or work practice is perceived to be unsafe, we do not proceed until the issue is resolved."

It is the best ever statement which I read till date and I recommend to every organization to use this as their safety policy and implemnt it. Never I my heart filled with a feeling of bliss as when I read this statement.

And I am sure other organizations should learn from this organization which is best suited to be a role model.

Some of the links of the same website are,

http://www.sbec.com/safety/
http://www.sbec.com/services/safety/

I am not convassing for the company services, but I am sure one will benefit by implementing its safety systems in their organization.