The Role of Safety Culture in Preventing Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes (2007)

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32 This chapter takes key findings from the literature review, data collection, and discussion of the safety culture relation- ship to develop practical questions and actions for motor carrier safety managers to use when developing their organi- zation’s safety culture. Because developing a safety culture is part policy course and part program implementation, it is suggested that the four stages listed in the safety culture devel- opment and use guideline be thought of as a circular process, whereby Stage 4 leads to a new cycle of Stage 1. Stage 1: Assess Safety Culture For a motor carrier that is seeking to create or enhance safety culture, an initial step is to assess the current safety cul- ture through eight questions. 1. What is the current state of our corporate culture? Review- ing Uttal’s definition of an organization’s culture, carriers can first ask themselves, “how are things done around here?” How “things are done” in an organization is likely never per- fect, and an initial inventory/overview of a company’s state of safety culture will offer a baseline from which to work. Result: An outline of how the organization operates, with a focus on safety. 2. What makes up our safety culture? This step will create a high-level inventory of a carrier’s safety culture as dis- cussed in Action 1 and will include a determination of the pervading company safety-related attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs. More detailed parts of what makes up a safety culture are found in the remaining six questions. Result: An outline of the organization’s safety culture. 3. What is the overall level of employee commitment to safety? For instance, do drivers, safety managers, or even top leadership use their safety belts when driving their per- sonal vehicles on the weekend? A safety culture is not something that is left in the CMV driver’s seat or at the distribution center; it is something that influences all parts of life in and outside the corporate setting. What currently motivates safe behavior among drivers? Is a strong safety culture in place that is responsible for such motivations? Result: An assessment of the role of specific employee groups (including drivers and operations, sales, and safety departments) in the safety culture. 4. Are the safety training, orientation, and recognition and rewards programs effective? Initial safety training and ori- entation programs act as a new employee’s introduction to the carrier’s culture. Additionally, safety rewards and recognition programs and ongoing formal safety training are effective methods to continue participation in the safety culture. To address this question, a safety manager will first assess the effects of training, orientation, and recognition and rewards programs. Pre- and post-program safety outcome data can be useful for this function. Result: Outline of driver training, orientation, rewards and recognition program. 5. What data are collected? Data drive the motor carrier objectives and allow safety managers to understand the current safety performance of their drivers and company as a whole. Data are necessary to determine what safety data are collected, what safety data could be collected, how all the data can/should be analyzed, and what the analyzed data mean as far as improving the carrier’s safety culture. Result: Inventory of collected, used, and potentially use- ful safety data. 6. Is Driver Empowerment Sufficient?Drivers should have a cen- tral role in the safety culture. The level of empowerment that drivers have can play a role in their safety-related behaviors. Result: Outline of current driver empowerment. 7. What are the barriers and vulnerabilities? Safety depart- ments can use Figure 1 to determine existing internal bar- riers to improved safety and the vulnerabilities within those barriers. Result: Model of existing safety barriers. 8. Are safety communications methods adequate? This question asks safety departments to outline their current safety communications. Essentially, this will determine what is in place and what is lacking. Result: Outline of safety communications systems. C H A P T E R 5 Motor Carrier Best Practices Guidelines: A Plan to Develop and Use Safety Culture to Reduce CMV Crashes

33 Stage 2: Identify Safety Culture Improvement Areas Stage 2 is intended to act as the platform for bringing together all of the deficiencies found in Stage 1. All eight steps in Stage 2 are intended to be brainstorming exercises for safety departments and others resulting in a list of potential improvement areas. 1. Develop a list of how things “could be” or “should be” compared with how they are currently. 2. Develop a list of where high-level deficiencies exist within the safety culture, and where overall improvements will be beneficial. 3. Develop a list of safety-related deficiencies/improvement areas for each specified group within the organization. 4. Develop a list of improvement areas for training, orienta- tion, and recognition and rewards programs. 5. Develop a list of data and data analysis needs. 6. Develop a list of driver empowerment needs. 7. List new barriers and how existing safety barriers can be improved. 8. Identify where safety communications systems are inef- fective or needed. Stage 3: Develop Solutions to Improve Safety Culture Stage 3 allows for a review of the compiled safety culture deficiencies for the purposes of developing individually tailored solutions for each deficiency, as well as compre- hensive solutions that address multiple safety culture deficiencies. 1. Corporate culture may not need to change to improve safety culture. If “things are done quickly and carelessly” through- out an organization, however, there will be an impact on safety. While this guide does not offer methods for changing corporate culture, leadership is clearly key to changing cor- porate culture. If the “way things are done” is to change, the driving force for that change must come from top leaders as well as those who manage departments and fleets. Once the desired improvement(s) are determined, they must be implemented through these members of the organization. 2. The safety culture improvement tasks will likely be high- level, long-term goals, and will be derived, in part, through the last six solution exercises listed in Stage 3. 3. A plan to improve the safety commitment for specific groups within the organization will be developed. Meth- ods to increase the departmental and driver commitment to safety will likely be delivered by the safety department and top leaders within all departments; strong leadership and buy-in across the company is key to the effectiveness of those messages. 4. The safety department should play a central role in deter- mining appropriate methods for improving employee training, orientation, and safety recognition and rewards programs. Because of the financial aspects of a rewards sys- tem, other departments would likely participate in solution development. Solutions might include the following: • Safety department will run training and orientation. • Messages will be more safety oriented. • Decreased emphasis on “cash” rewards. • Increased emphasis on recognition. 5. Data collection and analysis solutions should be finalized before implementation. 6. Driver empowerment will stem from actions taken by the safety department in conjunction with other departments, such as sales and operations. Changes in training and ori- entation will likely have to take place if the empowerment of drivers is going to be increased. 7. Safety departments take the lead on developing new safety barriers and closing the gaps in existing safety barriers. 8. Communications-based solutions are exemplified in the following examples: • Corporate identity through logos, vehicles and trailer styles, slogans, and uniforms. • Technology-based solutions to convey a message or allow greater communications among drivers and between drivers and departments. Stage 4: Implement Safety Culture Improvement Plan and Reassess Finally, the solutions should be implemented. Safety culture enhancing programs (or existing program enhancements) should be transparent, be open to suggestions, and include as much of the organization’s staff as possible. After implemen- tation, evaluation of effectiveness will occur as the safety culture is once again reassessed and the cycle begins once again (see Figure 7). Assess Safety Culture Figure 7. Safety culture improvement cycle.