Innovations in Preserving Staff Life and Health

From a Reactive to a Proactive Approach: The Evolution of Safety Culture

The traditional approach to occupational safety in Russia often comes down to collecting statistics and reacting to incidents that have already occurred. However, international experience shows that injury prevention is significantly more effective and economical. During the webinar, Angela Rodygina, HSE Director at Dietsmann, shares her experience implementing European safety culture standards at Russian enterprises. The speaker explains how transitioning from a reactive model to a system of proactive measures helps not only reduce risks but also change employees' attitudes toward their own safety.

Safety Culture Training: The Cascade Method

Implementing new standards requires systematic training at all levels. The presentation details the adaptation process of 17 safety culture modules developed by the head office in Monaco. Since it is impossible to send all employees for training simultaneously due to production tasks, the company applied a cascade method: HSE managers train line supervisors, who in turn pass the knowledge to their subordinates during regular meetings. This approach ensures the continuity of the educational process and the gradual involvement of all personnel.

Motivating Personnel to Identify Risks

One of the key elements of a proactive approach is the early identification of hazardous situations by the workers themselves. Using the "Safety is Everyone's Business" competition as an example, the speaker shows how the motivation system evolved. Initially, the company used financial rewards for reporting hazards, which was effective but eventually led to a formalistic approach. The transition to non-financial motivation (certificates, public recognition) helped maintain employee engagement and shifted the focus from getting a bonus to genuine concern for safety.

Digitalization of Control: The Control Repeat Sector Database

To effectively manage HSE data, the company developed its own software. The database allows recording the results of workplace inspections, including violations and corrective actions. The system automatically notifies responsible managers about identified non-conformities and monitors the deadlines for their elimination. In addition, the data is integrated with the KPI system, which directly affects the bonuses of violators, providing an extra level of administrative control.

The Problem of Targeted Briefings and Feedback

Even with detailed memos, the quality of targeted briefings often suffers due to a formalistic approach by line managers. The speaker emphasizes the critical importance of getting feedback from those being briefed. The difference in information perception between a manager and a worker can lead to fatal errors. Making sure the worker correctly understands the task and safe work methods is a key step in preventing injuries.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to organize cascade safety culture training in production?
• What motivation methods are effective for engaging personnel in risk identification?
• How to automate the control process for eliminating violations using internal IT solutions?
• Why targeted briefings often fail and how to fix this with feedback?
• How to use lessons learned from incidents (including near-misses) to prevent injuries?