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"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

The key words are "Design for Construction" and ASCE has a committee working on this. A designer should have some knowledge of construction methods enabling him (or her) to visualize possible problems. Does a welder have to be in an unsafe position to make his column weld? A lattice boom crane with a long boom is required. Is there room to lay out the boom on the ground for assembly and disassembly? How is the rigging on a crane lift unhooked in a safe manner? These are just typical questions that should require a response.

Jim Worrell

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

The key words are "Design for Construction" and ASCE has a committee working on this. A designer should have some knowledge of construction methods enabling him (or her) to visualize possible problems. Does a welder have to be in an unsafe position to make his column weld? A lattice boom crane with a long boom is required. Is there room to lay out the boom on the ground for assembly and disassembly? How is the rigging on a crane lift unhooked in a safe manner? These are just typical questions that should require a response.

Jim Worrell

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

The design and construction community can learn a lot from high-risk industries, like oil and gas, regarding the systematic management of risk and safety. Looking at the ASCE, I have no doubt about the Society's commitment to safety; however, I see a bunch of good initiatives but not a thread tying it all together. As a case in point, there is a gap in the availability of practical information and resources that can be used to create awareness of safety hazards and enable the sharing of best practices and lessons learned. This contrasts with ethics, where the ASCE website has a dedicated website section and resources. This begs the question, 'Could we do more' to more systematically and comprehensively raise safety awareness and implement best practices across the profession? Three things I think the ASCE can do to elevate its game:

Create a Safety Resource Page on ASCE.org

This would complement the existing page on ethics. It would place to collate safety content of interest to the civil engineering community. There is a wealth of content that can easily be found, collated, and prioritized. An example is the interview with Professor John Gambatese, civil and construction engineering professor at Oregon State University and past chair of ASCE's Construction Safety Committee on Optimizing Safety through Design. This short video touches on job site safety, prevention planning by design, the use of technology to eliminate hazards, and the all-important concept of safety leadership, and it would be extremely valuable for raising safety awareness.

Develop a New Policy on Personal Safety / Review the Existing Policies for Consistency and Audience

A new policy on personal safety would address a glaring omission. The existing policies should be reviewed for consistency of message and audience. As many of these policies apply to civil engineers and our work, I also question the wisdom of placing these policies under a heading of Advocacy, the risk being advocacy could be looked at as something that others do. If they apply to civil engineers, they should be made more personal.

Develop and Promulgate Best Practices for Managing Personal Safety

Using best practices would allow civil engineers and engineering firms to benefit and learn from others versus having to self-discover or reinvent the wheel. Consider adopting a set of lifesaving rules like the oil and gas industry.   

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

The design and construction community can learn a lot from high-risk industries, like oil and gas, regarding the systematic management of risk and safety. Looking at the ASCE, I have no doubt about the Society's commitment to safety; however, I see a bunch of good initiatives but not a thread tying it all together. As a case in point, there is a gap in the availability of practical information and resources that can be used to create awareness of safety hazards and enable the sharing of best practices and lessons learned. This contrasts with ethics, where the ASCE website has a dedicated website section and resources. This begs the question, 'Could we do more' to more systematically and comprehensively raise safety awareness and implement best practices across the profession? Three things I think the ASCE can do to elevate its game:

Create a Safety Resource Page on ASCE.org

This would complement the existing page on ethics. It would place to collate safety content of interest to the civil engineering community. There is a wealth of content that can easily be found, collated, and prioritized. An example is the interview with Professor John Gambatese, civil and construction engineering professor at Oregon State University and past chair of ASCE's Construction Safety Committee on Optimizing Safety through Design. This short video touches on job site safety, prevention planning by design, the use of technology to eliminate hazards, and the all-important concept of safety leadership, and it would be extremely valuable for raising safety awareness.

Develop a New Policy on Personal Safety / Review the Existing Policies for Consistency and Audience

A new policy on personal safety would address a glaring omission. The existing policies should be reviewed for consistency of message and audience. As many of these policies apply to civil engineers and our work, I also question the wisdom of placing these policies under a heading of Advocacy, the risk being advocacy could be looked at as something that others do. If they apply to civil engineers, they should be made more personal.

Develop and Promulgate Best Practices for Managing Personal Safety

Using best practices would allow civil engineers and engineering firms to benefit and learn from others versus having to self-discover or reinvent the wheel. Consider adopting a set of lifesaving rules like the oil and gas industry.   

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

The design and construction community can learn a lot from high-risk industries, like oil and gas, regarding the systematic management of risk and safety. Looking at the ASCE, I have no doubt about the Society's commitment to safety; however, I see a bunch of good initiatives but not a thread tying it all together. As a case in point, there is a gap in the availability of practical information and resources that can be used to create awareness of safety hazards and enable the sharing of best practices and lessons learned. This contrasts with ethics, where the ASCE website has a dedicated website section and resources. This begs the question, 'Could we do more' to more systematically and comprehensively raise safety awareness and implement best practices across the profession? Three things I think the ASCE can do to elevate its game:

Create a Safety Resource Page on ASCE.org

This would complement the existing page on ethics. It would place to collate safety content of interest to the civil engineering community. There is a wealth of content that can easily be found, collated, and prioritized. An example is the interview with Professor John Gambatese, civil and construction engineering professor at Oregon State University and past chair of ASCE's Construction Safety Committee on Optimizing Safety through Design. This short video touches on job site safety, prevention planning by design, the use of technology to eliminate hazards, and the all-important concept of safety leadership, and it would be extremely valuable for raising safety awareness.

Develop a New Policy on Personal Safety / Review the Existing Policies for Consistency and Audience

A new policy on personal safety would address a glaring omission. The existing policies should be reviewed for consistency of message and audience. As many of these policies apply to civil engineers and our work, I also question the wisdom of placing these policies under a heading of Advocacy, the risk being advocacy could be looked at as something that others do. If they apply to civil engineers, they should be made more personal.

Develop and Promulgate Best Practices for Managing Personal Safety

Using best practices would allow civil engineers and engineering firms to benefit and learn from others versus having to self-discover or reinvent the wheel. Consider adopting a set of lifesaving rules like the oil and gas industry.   

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?         

Many notable Design & Construction groups have been and continue to study and prescribe solutions to prevent the horrific number of construction accidents, including fatalities.

To date, labels like "Safety By Design" and "Prevention By Design" have been the focus.

Q. Who evaluates this type of theory against the evidence?

Cheers,

Bill

The design and construction community can learn a lot from high-risk industries, like oil and gas, regarding the systematic management of risk and safety. Looking at the ASCE, I have no doubt about the Society's commitment to safety; however, I see a bunch of good initiatives but not a thread tying it all together. As a case in point, there is a gap in the availability of practical information and resources that can be used to create awareness of safety hazards and enable the sharing of best practices and lessons learned. This contrasts with ethics, where the ASCE website has a dedicated website section and resources. This begs the question, 'Could we do more' to more systematically and comprehensively raise safety awareness and implement best practices across the profession? Three things I think the ASCE can do to elevate its game:

Create a Safety Resource Page on ASCE.org

This would complement the existing page on ethics. It would place to collate safety content of interest to the civil engineering community. There is a wealth of content that can easily be found, collated, and prioritized. An example is the interview with Professor John Gambatese, civil and construction engineering professor at Oregon State University and past chair of ASCE's Construction Safety Committee on Optimizing Safety through Design. This short video touches on job site safety, prevention planning by design, the use of technology to eliminate hazards, and the all-important concept of safety leadership, and it would be extremely valuable for raising safety awareness.

Develop a New Policy on Personal Safety / Review the Existing Policies for Consistency and Audience

A new policy on personal safety would address a glaring omission. The existing policies should be reviewed for consistency of message and audience. As many of these policies apply to civil engineers and our work, I also question the wisdom of placing these policies under a heading of Advocacy, the risk being advocacy could be looked at as something that others do. If they apply to civil engineers, they should be made more personal.

Develop and Promulgate Best Practices for Managing Personal Safety

Using best practices would allow civil engineers and engineering firms to benefit and learn from others versus having to self-discover or reinvent the wheel. Consider adopting a set of lifesaving rules like the oil and gas industry.   

"Transforming a safety culture is a process, not a program. When the process is undertaken systematically and with authentic commitment – in organizations large or small, enterprise-wide or in individual locations -- qualitative change produces dramatic measurable improvements.. .

Transforming a safety culture is not like designing and then implementing a safety program.

Changing the culture means changing norms, assumptions, and perceptions, not just behavior, and not  just policies, procedures, training, and equipment. And the process takes years, not months. With the right tools and some patience, the culture change process is a manageable sequence of concrete activities."

                                                                                                                                          by Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.              

Q. Within the design & construction industry, what and how do you recommend

re-engineering the current safety cultures into reliably protecting the safety, health, and welfare of all?