A "Site" to Behold

"The most successful and safest facilities all tend to have site leaders that go beyond satisfactory compliance by proactively reducing risk"

Although I haven't yet had a long career in the field of industrial hygiene, I often value my brief time spent working in EHS management for a single company versus the bulk of my experience which comes from consulting. I often find that having been on both ends of the stick gives a unique and beneficial perspective when performing my work, not to mention the level of respect I have for some of the site contacts I meet and consult with.

Recently, I had a client, who is a regional EHS director ask me a question nobody had asked me up to this point: "in your experience, what are the similarities you see in the most successful places that you visit?"

By successful, he of course meant a culmination of safe work practices, excellent controls for employee exposures, minimal work-related injuries, and a positive energy/pride among employees. I answered rather quickly, as if it was so obvious to me yet nobody seems to ask. My next thought: blog it for all to see!

"I answered rather quickly, as if it was so obvious to me yet nobody seems to ask"

One of the most common observations I find among the most successful facilities is how connected the EHS personnel are with executives. In other words, the placement on the corporate totem pole in which an IH/EHS manager/director sits. In my previous experience where I worked in-house, our director sat on weekly meetings with the CEO and other top-line execs. This allowed him to present all relevant information in a prioritized manner which was crucial for things such as procuring new equipment to new hires to put less of a strain on our busy department. I'm not saying that every EHS manager should sit with the CEO every week, but I've seen/heard too many scenarios where my report with an important engineering control recommendation gets to the EHS contact, then hits the desk of a supervisor which then goes to another supervisor who has no idea why this is important and thus, can't fit the control into the budget. The main idea of this entire point ultimately culminates to a more direct path of communication between those in charge of EHS/Safety and those with the power (aka budget) to implement important measures.

Next up is a term I like but is often arbitrarily defined: Safety Culture. I personally view safety culture as a combination of positive outlook on safety by employees and accountability among employees when it comes to safety. I can tell a lot about what I'll find in a facility based on employee willingness to wear PPE. When I ask the question, "do you wear hearing protection?", I get positive responses such as, "of course!", or negative responses such as a scoff or a, "no but I know I should". I find that safety culture is tough to build and is highly dependent on a strong but friendly safety manager who makes it known that he/she is there to help and not get employees in trouble. The problem is, safety culture is also highly dependent on the actual mindset of employees. Even one bad apple/attitude can set the tone or set a bad example. And attitude can be contagious. More recently, Ive talked to countless EHS personnel that have trouble with safety culture upkeep due to higher than usual employee turnover. Imagine this scenario for instance: an employee voluntarily wears hearing protection when using a specific machine. He has for years. His night shift relief would do the same, as he trained him to do so. However, should the day-shift employee quit, the "new kid" on the block may choose not to wear hearing protection while using the same machine. Now say he trains a new night-shift employee. Now, the night shift employee does not wear hearing protection either. Although in this case it is of course not required (it is now, thanks to me and my handy dandy sound level meter). However, the point is, even a small example like this can have a tremendous impact on safety culture.

"...safety culture is tough to build and is highly dependent on a strong but friendly safety manager who makes it known that he/she is there to help and not get employees in trouble. The problem is, safety culture is also highly dependent on the actual mindset of employees."

Finally, as an industrial hygienist, this last point hits the closest to home. The most successful and safest facilities all tend to have site leaders that go beyond satisfactory compliance by proactively reducing risk. This can include using a strict exposure limit such as a TLV rather than simply settling for being below the PEL. This also includes being open to and listening to consultants that view the facility with a fresh pair of eyes, and taking recommendations from a report seriously with intent to implement them, rather than setting a report aside, only to be produced if and when someone like OSHA asks for it.

As I write this, I am again reminded of the level of respect I have for all my EHS/safety/IH personnel that work so hard to make these things happen, whether managing a small facility or a multiple large facilities. In the words of the great Austin Powers, "I salute you!".