The development of safety performance over the past 30 years has seen organizations move from a technical and tactical focus to the recognition that leadership, culture, and behavior have to support the entire system that drives safety outcomes. Things have gotten better. Yet in this post-Deepwater Horizon world there is also the recognition that safety is not all that it could –and should – be. As we move into a new year, here are three things to consider about the future of safety:
The future will belong to those who can connect ideals with execution. Despite significant advances in processes and technology, safety continues to be dominated by a project-engineering mindset. We set big goals (e.g. zero harm, integration) but we keep trying to get there in small ways, usually with successions of discrete activities that rarely form a comprehensive strategy. Many leaders want to create an organization where “safety is who we are,” yet few can describe what that means in real terms. Employees know that safety is important, yet find obstacles to safe work in “non safety” systems and processes. We know the elements that reduce exposure, but we have difficulty creating an overarching framework that collectively supports them.
The future of safety will belong to those who can coordinate multiple disciplines and contributors. Executives, safety professionals, operational leaders, and others must understand all the constituent parts of safety and how to manage them under a collective system. The future state of safety requires that organizations be able to focus on both short-term priorities and long-term objectives and ensure appropriate balance in the formulation and execution of the change that is required.
Safety will finally be integrated into the actual organization. Like many New Year’s resolutions, integration of safety with the wider organization is both highly desired and quick to fall away when every day demands get in the way. We want safety to be an essential part of organizational life, but more often than not, we end up managing it in abstraction from daily realities. This leads to the layer cake effect: building multiple initiatives on top of what already exists to the point that the overall safety management framework becomes too complex to understand and too cumbersome to manage.
The future of safety will belong to those who develop an understanding of safety’s presence, influence, and importance in all aspects of operational life. When organizations are able to articulate the links between safety and the organization, and between safety and other performance goals, safety becomes woven into the fabric of the organization rather than remaining on the sidelines, functionally discrete.
Good safety will fuel good organizations. For many years, safety leaders have tried to make the business case for safety by focusing on program ROIs and the costs associated with injuries. While well-intended, this approach inadvertently minimizes safety and the real value it offers. Safety excellence is desirable not because it saves money but because it makes good organizations better. The safety goal is worthwhile because it humanizes organizations. And realizing that goal requires finely tuning the systems, leadership, and culture that support critical operational functioning.
Safety commands strategic standing in organizations that have come to understand the fundamental link between workplace safety and organizational excellence, not just seeing safety as a “nice to have.”
The future of safety is already starting. The question is not if things will change, but how and when.
