There are a few key elements to establishing a true safety culture in your company:

1. First and foremost, safety should be a personal value for everyone in the company and it should begin at the top.
2. Operations management, which consists of all management at the terminal and corporate levels alike, should have ownership in the safety process and be completely involved by participating in and fully supporting the safety program.
3. The third key factor which is often left out of the safety formula is an empowered and engaged Safety Committee.

Safety Committees serve many purposes other than having regular meetings. They are important in reviewing safety concerns brought by workers and customers. Safety activities should incorporate individuals from the committee who can provide more insight into the job being performed and how it can be done safely. Regular facility inspections, including equipment, are necessary to ensure workplace hazards do not exist and equipment operates safely. Safety Committees can be assigned responsibilities as part of the inspection process and encouraged to report unsafe conditions.

The structure of a Safety Committee is nearly as important as the day-to-day functions it performs. Each work group/area should be represented in order to have critical input from all operations when items are discussed. The individuals who represent a work group/area can take the message to their peers/workers in a way which makes sense to that particular operation. An example of a well-rounded committee would include: operations, human resources, dispatch, finance, facility maintenance, vehicle maintenance and, of course, the safety department. Safety Committee members should be selected on the basis of their ability to demonstrate safe working habits, their willingness to participate in the process, and availability to perform tasks necessary within their work group.

Not all companies can have an identical setup of a Safety Committee. For small to medium size companies (i.e. between 5 – 200 workers), roughly 10 percent of the work group should be represented in the Safety Committee.

For larger companies (i.e. more than 200 workers), a representative for each work area would be the minimum. In addition, within each department or work area, a subcommittee can be formed to address concerns specific to that group. The representative(s) from that subcommittee can then bring those concerns to the main Safety Committee. In this way, concerns and activities from all work groups can be addressed in the same forum.

Workers should know who the representative from their group is and should feel comfortable to bring safety concerns to the attention of the committee. Management should always be present to ensure the committee stays on-task and the meetings do not turn into a complaint session between departments.

In order to maintain a common focus, many companies provide some basic training to committee members to streamline their activities. First, members should have a basic understanding of the company safety program in terms of what is and is not acceptable. There should also be information available to determine root causes for all types of losses encountered. Members can be part of a review team after an accident or injury to determine what preventative actions can be taken with the work group after such a loss. Various activities should be developed by committee members to impact the root cause and prevent a similar incident from occurring.

Another best practice is to train members on how to conduct behavior-based observations which focus on the most common and severe root causes from the injury/accident trend analysis. These observations should not include discipline, but can include mentoring opportunities based on acceptable behaviors within the company. Giving the committee members knowledge ofbasic principles will empower them to make a difference in the reduction of unsafe conditions or behaviors, and improve the overall safety culture in the organization.

There should be regular meetings of a Safety Committee to maintain communication between departments and continually keep safety at the forefront of all work functions. The best practice would be to meet monthly (or at least quarterly) to discuss issues such as:

• accident/injury review
• audits
• volume increase/decrease
• areas of concern deemed appropriate for discussion
• follow-up on abatement of regular facility or equipment inspection items
• assignment of injury/accident prevention activities for each group
• safety concerns brought by any worker or the general public
• hazard remediation

More regular or unscheduled meetings should occur when a condition warrants it. The committee can also be an extension of the normal communication between departments and operations managers to ensure that safety is first in everything done within your organization.

The committee should be one of the most influential resources in your company. Participation from all work areas, support from the management team, regular meetings, engagement in the safety process, and empowerment to make necessary changes are all keys to the success of the Safety Committee and the overall safety culture where you work.