Safety: From compliance to culture

Safety in the built environment is frequently viewed through the lens of compliance. Regulatory standards provide critical guidelines for minimizing risk and protecting lives and property.

However, whilst compliance ensures minimum safety requirements are met, it does not automatically create an environment where safety is assured and embraced by everyone.

Building a culture of safety goes beyond regulatory checklists. It should be entrenched as a core value, focusing on proactive measures, empowerment, and commitment to ensure that safety is a shared responsibility for everyone.

Compliance serves as foundation for safety, but relying solely on it can create a false sense of security. Regulations are intended to address general risks, but they don’t always account for the peculiar hazards and dynamics of individual facilities.

For instance, compliance doesn’t address training gaps or human behaviors that could undermine even the most robust safety measures. Compliance often fosters a reactive approach rather than proactively preventing them.

This limitation is why facilities management practitioners should shift their attention from compliance-driven to a culture-driven safety approach. A safety-first culture not only meets regulatory requirements, but also establishes a deeper commitment to continuous improvement and risk prevention.

This requires a mindset change that prioritizes safety as a core value, transforming safety from a compliance obligation into a guiding principle for how safety is viewed. Key attributes of a safety mindset culture include:

Commitment: Facilities managers actively demonstrate their commitment to safety by engaging in initiatives, allocating resources, and setting an example for others to see safety as a top priority issue.

Engagement: In a safety-first culture, everyone is empowered to take ownership of safety. They feel confident reporting hazards, suggesting improvements, adhering to safety protocols and providing regular feedback.

Proactive Risk Management: Facilities Managers should adopt a forward-looking approach involving regular audits, real-time hazard assessments, and preventive measures that address potential risks before they escalate.

Training, Continuous Learning and Improvement: A safety-first culture is dynamic and evolves over time. As a result, facilities managers should provide regular training, updates to safety policies, establish clear safety metrics, and track and review of incident data to ensure safety practices remain effective and relevant.

Building a safety-first culture requires a strategic approach. Here are the key steps for facility managers to consider:

Leadership: Facilities managers must lead by prioritizing safety in decision-making, allocating resources for safety programs, and participating in initiatives. Actions speak louder than words.

End-user Involvement in the Process: Engaging end-users in the process by establishing regular safety meetings will increase their sense of responsibility for maintaining a safe environment.

Adopt Proactive Tools and Systems: Tools and systems that address hazards at their source are critical for a safety-first culture. Protection solutions provide permanent, reliable safeguards that go beyond temporary fixes.

In conclusion, facilities managers can play a critical role in leading this change from merely complying to creating a safety-first culture. They can create environments where safety is not just seen as a requirement but also as a core value for everyone.