Every year, millions of injuries occur both on and off the job. Some say it is a silent epidemic.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for people in North America between the age of 1 and 44, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control, among the top five causes of death for all ages. These injuries occur in the workplace, at home, on the road, and in our communities. In order to reduce the number of injuries, our culture needs to change. We need to develop a safety culture both on and off the job.

We have identified seven critical safety habits that we believe can improve the safety culture in any organization:
1. Think Safety’s HARD;
2. Wear the Gear;
3. Avoid the Shortcuts;
 4. Send the Message;
5. Support the Team;
6. Recognize the Name, Blame and Shame Game;
7. Be Proactive and Protective.

Let’s use the analogy of building a house to look at the process of building a safety culture. Building a house takes time, a team of people, and commitment.

Think Safety’s HARD

“Think Safety’s H.A.R.D,” lays the foundation for construction. People may be in the habit of thinking safety is easy, or that if they use common sense they will be safe. The problem with common sense is that it tends to fail us when we need it the most. Instead of expecting common sense to protect us, we want to recognize that safety is H.A.R.D. “H.A.R.D” stands for Hazard, Assessment, Risk, Duty. This means that when we are about to perform a task and we think of safety being HARD, it encourages us to look at the hazards, assess the risks, and perform whatever duty we need to protect ourselves and our co-workers.

Wear the Gear

Once we have built the first habit successfully, we are ready to move on to the next habit, “Wear the Gear.” In the workplace, personal protective equipment takes TIME, meaning Training, Inspection, Maintenance, and Evaluation. Often, however, we don’t take the necessary preparation time off the job. People cutting the grass often don’t take the time to wear personal protective gear, steel-toed footwear, eye protection, and hearing protection. It’s not that they don’t care; they just don’t think about safety. Did you know that lawnmower incidents result in the hospitalization of over 100,000 people in North America every year? Habit number two, “Wear the Gear,” sounds simple, but it takes TIME, and TIME is a habit.

Avoid the Shortcuts

If we think safety is H.A.R.D and we wear gear, the proper protective equipment, we are ready to begin building the walls of our house with habit number three, “Avoid the Shortcuts.” We want to avoid shortcuts, not eliminate them, because shortcuts are prevalent in our lives and some of them can be valuable. But when it comes to safety, often it is the shortcuts that get us in trouble and cause injuries. In the workplace, avoiding the shortcuts means following the procedures and practices required to perform the work. We need to ensure that all procedures and practices are used and understood. This will help to reduce the shortcuts.

After a serious injury we often hear how the procedures were not followed and this contributed to the loss. Get into the habit of reviewing safety procedures on and off the job.

Send the Message

The next habit is “Send the Message.” Once we start following the procedures, once we start participating in safety and wearing the personal protective equipment, we are already sending a message. It is a message that says safety is important to us and is helping to build our safety culture. We need to lead by example. The question we ask during this part of the program is, “what is the safety message you are sending?” Our motto is, “we are always sending a message.” No matter what we say or do.

Support the Team

Moving on to the next part of the house, the roof, we find the fifth habit, “Support the Team.” We are now reaching a new level in the safety culture, one in which people are more safety conscious. As with sending the message, if we’ve followed the previous habits, we’re well on our way to accomplishing this one. Supporting the team means we need to recognize who the team members are and what their role is. We need to support them to make sure safety is valued in our organization. We want to ensure that everyone is aware of their responsibility as a team member.

Recognize the Name, Blame, and Shame Game

Incidents happen to all of us at one time or another. That’s why habit number six, “Recognize the Name, Blame, and Shame Game,” is so important. We have probably all fallen into this trap: when an incident does occur, we look for the person who we can hold responsible. Then we blame them and shame them (“You did it, it was your fault, be more careful in the future”). We don’t want to play the Name, Blame, and Shame Game, because no one wins. What we want to do instead is encourage workers to report incidents and close calls when they do occur, so we can correct the problem and prevent more serious incidents in the future. Habit number six is about recognition.

Be Proactive and Protective

At this level of construction, the foundation has been laid, creating an awareness of safety. Putting the walls in place means we are starting to participate in safety. And once the roof is on, we are now safety conscious. It has taken some time, but we’ve built the structure of our safety culture; now we have to make sure we maintain it.

That brings us to our final habit, habit number seven: “Be Proactive and Protective.” We have to be on the lookout for anything that could cause harm. We anticipate dangers and strive to prevent them. We are safety managers at this point—if not officially in the workplace, definitely at home. The ultimate goal here is to prevent injuries on and off the job. Being protective and proactive means being aggressive about safety; making it a way of life.

Now that we have learned the “Seven Safety Habits that could Save Your Life,” which habit would you like to work on? Maybe habit number one, Think Safety’s HARD, is a good staring place. What steps will you take to ensure that you conduct last-minute risk assessment on and off the job? Remember, it takes time and commitment. FSM

Wilson Bateman is president of Global Training Edge, Inc. and author of “Seven Safety Habits That Could Save Your Life.” For more, go to www.globaltrainingedge.com.