ABSTRACT
As we’ve discussed elsewhere in this book, people are the key to developing a positive culture towards safety in your organization. As I’ve suggested before in this book, building relationships that span and interconnect through all levels of the organization are a crucial factor when it comes to galvanizing corporate culture. Several proprietary organizational maturity models underline the important role culture plays in reducing accidents. What these models also tend to underline is the importance of growing and sustaining social relationships. As an organization moves from a reactive style of safety culture to becoming compliant and then on to becoming more integrated and holistic, it experiences a dynamic shift in the relationships between followers and leaders, and between peers. At the outset, workers in reactive organizations are characterized as following the rules because they have to, whereas those in more integrated or holistic phases are typically following rules because they want to. At this point, workers take on the role of being ‘each other’s keeper’: essentially looking out for, helping and caring for each other to work safely. What lies at the heart of this change? Well, when we look deep into successful organizations – whether we’re interested in safety, productivity, innovation or any other aspect – we observe that the most productive groups within them all exhibit high levels of interpersonal trust.
