1. DOE-EFCOG ISM & QA Fall 2016 Silent Danger
Mike Hassell

2. Silent Danger Five Crucial Conversations of a Safety Culture
Results of a study performed by VitalSmarts

3. Background – the Good News
From 1991 to 2008, lost time workplace injuries have dropped 54.9%.
Vast majority of gains attributed to improvements in equipment, policies, systems, and training.
Safety Leaders have applied quality, statistical, and management tools to safety issues with positive results.
Recent evidence suggests that this improvement trend is stalled – why?

4. The Study
VitalSmarts performed a study on industry safety behaviors for CalOSHA.
Thirty companies studied in various industries.
>1600 frontline workers, managers, and safety directors interviewed.
Additional 1500 employees across all levels from 22 different organizations were surveyed.

5. The Challenge
Formal processes often don’t address challenges that are:
Less formal,
Cultural in nature, and
Exist unacknowledged like icebergs below the waterline.
These include:
entrenched habits,
social norms, and
informal practices

6. The Silent Five
Identified five “Silent Dangers” that are prevalent in work places: Common, Costly, Un-discussable
93% say their workgroup is at risk of one or more of these five “accidents waiting to happen”.
When employees see one of “The Five”, only one in four will speak up.
That means up to 3 out of 4 unsafe acts occur:
With someone’s knowledge, and
Nothing is done about it until it is too late and the “accident waiting to happen”, happens.
There is the rub. While safety demands that people look out for each other, remind each other, and hold each other accountable, the reason safety risks persist is because in most organizations, people are unwilling and unable to step up to these most crucial of conversations.

7. “Get ‘er Done” These are rush jobs that seem to justify shortcuts.
Unsafe Practices that are justified by tight deadlines.
78% see their coworkers take unsafe shortcuts.
Error Precursors
Time Pressure Stress Work-Arounds
Unfamiliarity with task/First time
“Can Do” attitude for crucial tasks
Inaccurate risk perception

8. “This is Overboard”
Unsafe practices that bypass precautions that are considered excessive.
66% see safety precautions discounted.
Error Precursors
Inaccurate Risk Perception
Lack of knowledge
“Can Do” attitude for crucial tasks

9. “I Think I can” Demands that push a person beyond their skill level.
Unsafe practices that stem from skill deficits that can’t be discussed.
65% see unsafe acts related to competency.
Error Precursors
Lack of Knowledge
Unfamiliarity with task/First time
Lack of proficiency/Inexperience
“Can Do” attitude for crucial tasks .

10. “Are You a Team Player?”
Threats that people accept as a part of their job.
Unsafe practices justified for the “good of the team, company, or customer”
64% see coworkers violate safety precautions for the “team”
Error Precursors
Mind Set
Time Pressure
“Can Do” attitude for crucial tasks
Inaccurate risk perception

11. “Just This Once”
Unsafe practices that are justified as exceptions to the rule.
Special cases that “seem” to allow exceptions.
55% see coworkers take one-time exceptions.
Error Precursors
Time Pressure
Stress
Changes/Departure from routine
“Can Do” attitude for crucial tasks
Illness or fatigue
Taken together, these five undiscussables account for a vast number of accidents waiting to happen
Not bystander apathy, it is bystander agony – not that they don’t care.

12. VitalSmarts Solution? More Training/Audits/Tools? Accountability?
Important and necessary, but won’t fix the problem.
Study showed People already see the problems!
Accountability?
YES – on a Personal Level - We need to hold each other accountable for unsafe actions.
When people speak up, 82% say their actions result in a safer work environment for everyone.
When accountability is carefully and intentionally built into the culture, every employee is responsible for holding his or her peers accountable. In these cultures, the unsafe actions of errant individuals almost never persist.

13. Human Nature and Compliance
Difficulty
Non-Compliance
Risk +
Accountability
Individual Belief of Hazard
Enforcement
Organizational Belief of Hazard
Peer

14. The Cure to the Silent Danger
We need to carefully and intentionally build safety accountability into our culture.
We need to give permission to our coworkers to let us know when we are not working safely.
We need to speak up when safety lines are crossed – no matter who crosses them.