A recent blog by EHS Today has been gaining traction on social media, and for good reason. In The 8 Habits of a Highly Effective Safety Culture, the author notes an ongoing shift in the culture of safety management, a move away from legacy compliance driven metrics and towards a habit-driven culture building model.
In this post, we unpack key takeaways from the article, exploring how StrongArm Technologies supports the development of these pivotal habits for your workforce.
Embracing Human Performance Principles
The article argues that the following principles of human performance should form the foundation for all safety programs:
- “Error is normal. Even the best people make mistakes.
- Blame fixes nothing.
- Learning and improving are vital. Learning is deliberate.
- How you respond to failure matters. How leaders act and respond counts.
- Context influences behavior. Systems drive outcomes.”
These principles align with StrongArm’s emphasis on continuous improvement for ‘Industrial Athletes.’ Using our platform, we develop an individual learning path for each Athlete, allowing them to learn at their own pace and focus on their specific areas for improvement. By engaging in consistent coaching and using wearables for continuous feedback, Industrial Athletes learn deliberately, achieving sustainable improvements in safety behavior. This goes beyond the workplace, fostering a culture of safety in every aspect of their lives.
Day-to-day and week over week, StrongArm provides a platform that drives improved safety outcomes. Individual safety analytics empower Industrial Athletes and Frontline Managers to measure performance and integrate coaching into their regular workflows. This ultimately creates a more connected and engaged workforce, one where leaders proactively improve safety outcomes and Industrial Athletes are focused on developing safer habits on a continuous basis.
Focusing ‘Left of Zero’: The Importance of Leveraging Leading Indicators
One of the key habits outlined in the EHS Blog is “Focus Left of Zero.” This concept means prioritizing leading indicators over lagging ones. While safety and operations professionals are often graded on accident rates and EMRS (lagging indicators), the real change in safety culture happens with a shift in perspective. Rather than ignoring near-misses, as errors are an inevitable part of any operation, encouraging the reporting of these incidents allows for more informed safety management data.
By leveraging StrongArm’s SafeWork Platform, organizations will effectively implement the “Focus Left of Zero” habit. The platform automates leading indicator safety data collection and prompts action via the easy to use coaching and training applications. Informed by wearable data, facility leaders can complete observation sessions, mechanical interventions, job station redesign and other risk engineering exercises much more impactful. With our SafeWork Platform, 83% of participating team members reported improved lifting techniques.
StrongArm further supports a proactive safety environment by freeing frontline managers up. Using automated and standardized workflows instead of archaic manual observations, leaders can reduce the amount of time they spend manually observing by 95%!
Create a Highly Effective Safety Culture At Your Organization
Ready to enhance your injury prevention programming?
At StrongArm, our mission is to keep Industrial Athletes™ safe through our SafeWork Platform — an end-to-end workforce optimization and risk management solution. Our safety wearables are programmed to detect dangerous bends and twists. Sensors help Industrial Athletes™ move their bodies safely so they don’t have to think about it, gathering data points while providing real-time haptic feedback to help correct unsafe behaviors.
Request a trial online today for more information and learn how to create a safer work environment!
