Culture: noun cul·ture \ˈkəl-chər\ A blend of the values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals, and myths a company develops over time. Whether written as a mission statement, spoken or merely understood, corporate culture describes and governs the ways a company’s owners and employees think, feel and act.

Does your company have a safety program or a safety culture?

What’s the difference? One requires constant maintenance and enforcement and the other tends to take care of itself.

Keys to creating a construction safety culture:

1. Safety can NOT be a priority.

2. Safety must become a value or a conviction, neither of which will be shuffled like a priority.

3. Change the mindset about who is responsible for safety.

4. Develop “small unit cohesion.”

Some practical things you can do to create a safety culture:

1. Reward safe behavior on the spot.

2. Reward safety innovation.

3. Gather the crew – and their families – outside of work.

4. Engage the crew on how to solve safety problems. Ask questions instead of prescribing policy.

5. There are a few others in the podcast.

Listen to the podcast to hear a few other strategies for developing a safety culture, and some steps around how to respond to a safety violation.