Safety Improvement Projects

1. Safety Improvement Projects Eveline van der Stegen Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment 3rd International Conference Working on Safety

2. What is a safety improvement project? • Decrease accidents by > 10 % • Structural improvement of safety culture • Subsidy ( € 100.000 per project, on average) • Company, sector, business area • Monitor progress • Duration: 2-3 years • Communication of results

3. Reasons to participate • Decrease number of accidents • We want to be the best at everything • Good safety pays back as good quality • Benchmark: similar companies have less accidents • Improve reputation • We can use some help • We need the money

4. Additional activities • Website, restricted discussion forum • Exchange meetings, limited # participants, confidentiality guaranteed • Brochures • Newsletter

5. What we learned (safety culture) • Safety management is just like ordinary management • Commitment management is essential • Safety officer with good communication skills is helpful • Technique first, then behaviour • Plan-do-check-act • Give the employees a major role • Be prepared for a lot of extra work

6. What we learned (skills) • To facilitate communication between ‘hands-on’ people and planners • To always verify definitions • Involvement management • Accident

7. Conclusions • Fantastic results are possible! • Active commitment management is indispensable • Safety management is just like ordinary management: the project’s success depends on the quality of the organisation

8. Arbeidsveiligheid.szw.nl Session 28: Good Industry Practices Further information