Editor's Note: The Journey to Safety Excellence
The National Safety Council has unveiled the Journey to Safety Excellence – a cycle of improvement that aims for a continual reduction of risk, with a goal of zero injuries.
“At the National Safety Council, we believe world-class safety is a Journey,” said Janet Froetscher, NSC president and CEO.
The Journey to Safety Excellence strategy asks employers to consider three questions about worker safety at their organizations:
- Where are you now, and where do you want to be? At this stage, employers should determine strengths and weaknesses and establish goals.
- How do you move forward? Employers should identify gaps and set goals, as well as develop improvement plans.
- How do you manage your improvement and measure your progress? At this stage, employers should measure goals and capture lessons learned.
The Journey is based on research as well as best practices of world-class organizations, and is made up of four key pillars that are critical to achieving safety excellence:
- Leadership and employee engagement: Fostering a culture in which safety is fully integrated in the business and is a shared responsibility among all employees
- Safety management systems: Setting a framework of processes and procedures to ensure tasks are completed and objectives are met
- Risk reduction: Striving to reduce the likelihood of an event and the severity of the injury that may result
- Performance measurement: Having measurable goals to track progress using leading and lagging indicators
“Depending on where your organization is on its Journey, your needs may be different, and we are committed to helping you every step of the way,” Froetscher said. “We encourage you to reach out to us if there is any way we can be of assistance.”
Look for the four icons in the pages of Safety+Health to identify Journey-related content, and visit nsc.org/safety_work for more information.
The opinions expressed in “Editor’s Note” do not necessarily reflect those of the National Safety Council or affiliated local Chapters.
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