Dr. Deb Potter – an advocate for a zero-injury workplace
Program Titles
- Organizational safety management assessments
- Safety culture improvement initiatives
- Simply Seamless Safety: What Managers can do to Positively Influence the Organization
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Safety Interventions
- Zero! Creating an Injury-Free Workplace
- Leadership: When it Comes to Safety, What Gets Your Attention
Deborah Potter, CMC, Ph.D.: “Safety is a direct outcome of your organization’s culture…” A Simply Seamless Safety culture is one in which every employee at every level is committed to a safe workplace. The result is that everyone goes home every day without injury.
It is the answer to the problem we face in the United States today: annually, over 5000 employees die at work. Workplace injuries and deaths occur because of poor safety cultures that lead to poor safety performance.
Traditional safety management methods rely heavily on compliance with regulations and focus on lagging indicators such as injuries and severity rates. The approach focuses on job design, equipment engineering, safety work practice development, and protective equipment provision.
While these are important, they do not encompass all it takes to create an environment where employees know their health and safety is valued and are expected to perform their work safely. Zero injuries are achieved when the organization’s values, beliefs, policies, procedures, actions, and behaviors are laser-focused on safety at every level. Isn’t that a goal you want for your organization?
An improved safety culture drives safety performance, eliminates injuries, and saves lives. WHO WOULDN’T WANT THAT?
The Simply Seamless Safety culture model helps managers and leaders to:
Understand how to evaluate the state of the safety culture in their organization
Set high expectations for workplace health and safety culture and performance
Build safety into all production processes
Emphasize safety as a core value along with production and quality
Hold managers and employees accountable for safe behavior and performance
Make resources available for improvements, training, and personal protective equipment
No matter the problem, no matter the question, no matter the issue, managers and executives can create sustainable, positive change when it comes to safety and health. They do this when they develop a philosophy that promotes safety and health throughout their organizations and de-emphasizes the current focus on compliance. This philosophy must give equal weight to five areas:
1. Management commitment
2. Employee involvement
3. Worksite analysis
4. Hazard prevention and control
5. Health and safety training
THIS IS NOT A COOKIE-CUTTER APPROACH
Dr. Deb uses the Criteria for Safety Excellence, which she developed along with Carl Potter, CSP, to assess your safety culture. The Criteria are based on five areas that have been proven to be the foundation of injury-free workplaces: management commitment, employee involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and health and safety training.
Dr. Deb uses a qualitative approach to help you understand where your safety management process is working and where it needs improvement.
RESPONSIBLE SAFETY MANAGEMENT BY DESIGN
Dr. Deb works with your organization to identify and develop initiatives to move your safety management process to a zero-injury workplace.
Deb Potter, PhD, CMC, and Safety Champion, works with organizations that want to develop a Simply Seamless SafetySM culture where every person at every level is committed to a safe workplace so everyone can go home every day without injury.
Books by Deborah Potter, CMC, Ph.D.
- Simply Seamless Safety SM : Using OSHA’s VPP Criteria to Improve your Safety Culture
- ZERO! Responsible Safety Management by Design
- I Am Safe! Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing
- Who Is Responsible for Safety?
- Safety On My Mind
- Safety is a Team Sport
Book Deborah Potter, CMC, Ph.D. for your Event!