Building a positive

Safety Culture
Suresh Tanwar
Corporate Head- S, H & E
Tata Motors Limited
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Coverage
Organization Culture and Safety Culture
Changing face of Safety
Safety as strategy used for organizational effectiveness & role
of senior leadership.
What it takes for companies to build a positive safety culture
Characteristics of a good safety culture in an organization

Tata Group

4,50,000
$100.09 bn

Tata Motors Group

Indias largest automobile company
Plants at Jamshedpur, Pune, Lucknow, Pantnagar, Sanand &

Dharwad
Overseas plants in Korea, Thailand, South Africa & Spain
Acquired companies: Jaguar Landrover, Daewoo Commercial
Vehicles Company, Hispano Carrocera, Thonburi
Automotive Assembly Plant Company and Marcopolo
(J.V.)
Consolidated revenue for 2011-12 : $32.5 bn
Over 55,000 employees
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Where a question of Safety is concerned

and there is difference of opinion between
yourselves and your executives or advisors,
I think that your judgment should prevail
only where it weighs on the side of still
greater Safety
Mr. JRD Tata

No business objective can be deemed more important

than the physical safety of all our employees and
associates. Each one of us should try and make it our
personal mission to translate this belief into reality. Only
if ensuring the safety of our people becomes a mission
will it be possible for us to raise the bar on safety and
reach standards that will be on par with the best
companies in the world
Mr. Ratan Tata

Creating Organization Safety Culture

a crucial Leadership imperative
Leadership
Expectations
Behaviors

Safety Culture The product of

individual

and

group

values,

attitudes, competences & patterns of

behaviour

that

determine

Safety
Culture

the

commitment to and the style and

proficiency of organizations health

Human
Performance

Org
Culture

and safety programs

Steps to improvement towards Safety Culture

Generative / HRO

Proactive

Calculative
Reactive
Pathological

All staff involved

Front Line Commitment
and Competencies

Management Commitment and

competencies
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Trends in Practice Shifts noticed in recent times

Pushing Safety Deeper into an Organization

Old

Safety : an add-on

Safety Professional directed, taught,

led, cheered

Focus on Lagging Indicators

Safety department Focus for Safety

New

Safety : not an add-on, but integral

with Organizations Business Plan,
tied to metrics. Health & Safety
performance a key business indicator

Safety part of business culture

Focus on Leading Indicators and

behaviour of people
Safety department : Co-ordinating,
Advising, Training, Auditing & Special
help

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Good News V/s Bad News

Good news only tells us whether we were lucky

Bad news tells us that they found the Edge

Bad news is difficult to admit to

You may find it hard to admit failure

Your boss may find it difficult to accept

Bad news is the most effective basis for learning

90% bad - 10% good seems to be an ideal mix

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Role of senior leadership

Coaching

Cooperation

Caring

Communication

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Safety as strategy used for organizational

effectiveness
Boundaryless Flow of Information

Defined roles and responsibilities

Proactive accountability
Visible progress towards the goal

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Improving Safety Performance

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Roadmap to Safety Culture Excellence

Capability

Cultural
Excellence

Climate
Clarity

Current
Status

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Essentials of an effective Safety Culture

Incident
Investigation

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Safety a core value

Only a handful organizations across the world have Safety as a
core value
Organizations that eliminate their corporate S,H&E programs in an
effort to save money fail to see the long-term ramifications of their
decision. Not only they lose money, they put the health and safety

of their employees - their greatest resource at risk

Employee Safety is Management responsibility and not Safety
departments responsibility

Enhanced companys reputation and brand

Giving Safety the status of ethics, that of a belief
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Top management demonstrated commitment & visibility

Walk the Talk .. Setting examples.. Giving right signals
-

Chairing Safety Meeting at some intervals

Leading fatality/ serious incident Investigation

Taking Safety Rounds, donning PPE, correcting observed unsafe behaviour

Conducting Safety training & auditing

Conducting a well organized Safety time out

Setting the highest level of performance & holding HODs & Supervisors
accountable on matters of Safety

Appropriate Resources allocation, asking for Regulatory Compliance assurance

Leading by example. Practicing Safe behaviour at all times

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Top management demonstrated commitment & visibility

Walk the Talk Setting examples Giving right signals contd
-

Giving equal importance to cost, quality, delivery & safety. Safety not sub-ordinate to
any one of these

Recognizing Safety Achievements

Evaluating Safety performance in Appraisals of sub-ordinates. Focused on

performance

Stopping a job that is life threatening

Starting all business meetings with Safety as first agenda point

Following Just Culture for Consequence Management. Zero tolerance to substandard Safety performance, Incidents & Inviolable Safety Rules

Giving Safety the dignity of ethical value

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Myths & Reality

Pitfalls to avoid

Belief that Safety is priority.

It should be Safety First in business agenda, not priority. With
focus treat it to be Value
Belief that injuries are inevitable (bound to happen).

Reality: All injuries are preventable

Belief that Policing improves Safety.

Actually it deteriorates Safety. Internalization improves Safety.

Policing in very limited way helps in instilling fear, not sustainable
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Myths & Reality

Pitfalls to avoid..Contd.

Belief that unsafe conditions largely contribute to injuries.

Unsafe acts contribute upto approx 96% of injuries

Belief that workers are responsible for incidents.

Management is responsible for incidents. Management has to
create a culture of safety

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Change your Safety Culture with these NINE steps..

1. Practicing What You Preach (and Vice Versa)
2. Meeting Regulatory Standards

3. Building a Base of Support

4. Promoting the Company Line
5. Training Your Supervisors
6. Providing Management Meaningful Data
7. Holding Management and Supervisors Accountable
8. Recognizing Safety Achievements
9. Gaining Access to Top Management
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What is the right message given by top mgt ?

Production

Safety

Safe Production
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Thank you!

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