How do you foster a learning culture from safety incidents and near misses?

Incidents & near misses are always helpful in fostering a learning culture. The involvement of the right, able and competent team in the investigation and RCA (root cause analysis) is the key to make the process effective.

We all understand near misses are lead indicators for more severe incidents. They allow us to be proactive with risk management. This is how we are most successful preventing injuries. We should place as much importance on reporting/hazard recognition as audits and days safe. In my opinion, One and Done policies and severe penalties related with safety violations are the largest hurdle in creating a culture that employees feel comfortable reporting “ any and all incidents, no matter how slight.” The need for swift correction with safety violations is obvious, but swift and severe are two different things. People are human and make mistakes. Let’s focus more on encouraging correcting the action and learning versus punishing the violator.

In my opinion investigating the root cause of near misses is essential to prevent future accidents. Also, near misses can give an insight into the employee's working behavior. Unsafe behavior and complacency can be attributed to the cause of many serious incidents. For example an employee may bypass machine guards regularly because it makes the job easier and faster, but the one time they are not fast enough or steady enough it will result in a serious injury or possibly a fatality.

In addition, another way to engage & empower can be implemented through Rewards & Recognition, but not in the traditional sense of silencing or hiding events. Everyone likes rewards & to be recognized for their contributions. Simple implementations can have a significant impact on an organization’s culture overall. When employees are allowed to participate in designs, share concerns & feel heard; getting them to buy into safety becomes easy. Simple rewards can be recognition for reporting near misses, providing input to correcting hazards, or for participating in safety initiatives. You’d be surprised to see how proud employees are to display that certificate from the safety department that recognizes their contributions & efforts.

Incidents with minor impacts, near misses, & observations (e.g., an audit IDs a hazard before it causes an incident) are perceived poorly toward owners of equipment, facility, or process with a fault. This negative perception leads to underreporting of near misses & observations, & to understating potential precursors of Serious Injury or Fatality (SIFs) events that may be present. We learn more from our mistakes & failures than from our successes. We must encourage seeing these incidents from a positive perspective to ID opportunities to prevent recurrence or more serious incidents in the future. These incidents are key to SIF prevention if reported, root causes identified, & effective corrective & preventive action plans implemented.

In my experience, effectively communicating and sharing safety culture best practices is essential for fostering a culture of continuous improvement and learning. Utilizing diverse channels like newsletters, reports, and webinars ensures widespread dissemination of knowledge and insights gained from safety assessments and incident management. Collaborating with industry peers and experts facilitates cross-learning and the adoption of proven strategies. By prioritizing communication and sharing, organizations can strengthen their safety cultures, mitigate risks, and enhance overall safety performance.