A broader perspective on occupational safety—supported, for example, by approaches such as Human and Organisational Performance (HOP) and “Safety Differently”—can strengthen your safety culture sustainably. Here you will find 12 easy-to-implement tips to get started, inspired by Georgina Poole from the Leading Safety Podcast, to help you lay the foundation for a modern, proactive safety culture.
1. Involve employees from operational practice
Real improvements to on-site safety start with those who actually do the work. Involve them regularly in risk assessments, decision-making processes, and problem-solving. Questions such as “If you could redesign this task, what would you do differently?” can help.
2. Use the “4 Ds”
For conversations with employees, use the “4 Ds”:
- What about this task does not make sense?
- What is dangerous about it?
- What makes it difficult?
- What are we doing differently today than usual, or how could we do it differently?
These four open questions encourage honest dialogue and lead to better decisions. You can find out more on the Learning Teams Inc. website.
3. Focus on error-producing conditions instead of assigning blame
When something goes wrong, resist the reflex to look for someone to blame. Instead, ask: “What conditions made this possible?” or “What conditions led him/her to think this was a good idea?” This shift in perspective fosters a culture of trust and learning from mistakes.
4. Let the workforce run mini-experiments
Give your employees the freedom to develop and try out their own solutions to recurring problems. Such micro-experiments promote ownership, realistic innovation, and stronger engagement.
5. Make mistakes a topic of conversation
At the start of each shift, regularly ask: “Where are we most likely to make mistakes today?” and then: “How could we minimise this risk?” This helps identify potential sources of error early and discuss and agree on protective measures together.
6. In incident investigations, look beyond human error
In events involving human actions, it is more important to understand the error-producing conditions in order to drive systematic improvements in the organisation than to search for a single root cause. Analysis methods that support this, or Learning Teams, can help here.
7. Celebrate successes—and learn from them
Ask your team these three questions after every project, after modifications, etc.:
- What worked well?
- What could have been improved?
- What surprised us?
This is how you learn from successes.
8. Use “Learning Teams”
Bring together 5–7 people who actually do the work in question, and start by asking, for example: “What does a normal working day look like?” Use curious questions and tools such as the 4 Ds to discover potential and best practices. This supports risk management and process optimisation.
9. View near misses as a learning opportunity
Your response as a leader to events lays the foundation for learning and improvement. Reflect on your response to incident reports: instead of reacting negatively, see them as an opportunity to learn and make your systems more resilient.
10. Take a close look when “nothing happens”
If your safety metrics are always “green” or hardly any incidents are recorded, do not just celebrate. Instead, ask: “What is actually happening when seemingly nothing is happening?” Hidden problems often only come to light through curious follow-up questions—such as via Learning Teams or the 4 Ds.
11. Share insights across the entire company
Do not limit insights or learning—share them across the organisation, across departments, sites, and ideally even across industries. This promotes collaboration and shared learning, rather than limiting progress through silo thinking.
12. Remove unnecessary processes and paperwork
Take a critical look at your processes and systems. Together with employees, identify at least one procedure, document, or form that adds little value, and eliminate it. This increases efficiency, builds trust, and shows that you take real improvements seriously.
Thank you! For the original photo: Kindel Media on Pexels.
