For a global chemicals company, safety had always been the top priority. When recordable incidents suddenly rose at one of its largest sites, the sustainability of all recent improvements was called into question. In ten months, recordable incidents fell by 75%, and safety improvement suggestions from the shop floor rose by 300%.
Duration: five months
“At first the site wasn’t up to standard. Our view was: if you can change this site, you can change anything. I was hugely impressed when I visited the site again six months after the programme ended. People were proud of the improvements, they had a clear picture of where they wanted to go and knew how to get there.” – Corporate SHE Manager
The situation
For a global chemicals company, safety, health and the environment had always been the top priority. A sudden spike in recordable incidents at one of its largest sites raised questions about the sustainability of all the recent improvements there.
The challenge was for employees to internalise safe behaviour so fully that supervision was no longer needed. Only then would the site truly perform at world-class level. Management didn’t want to treat safety as a separate topic, but as an integral part of wider operational performance: part of the day-to-day running of the business, not something apart.
What was really wrong
Management rated the safety culture at level 3 of the Bradley Curve, the level at which employees take responsibility for their own safety. In two working sessions, the teams calibrated their own behaviour against the levels of that curve. They discovered that in reality they were barely at level 2.
That made clear why the improvements weren’t holding by themselves: people were working safely, but it still relied on supervision rather than on their own behaviour.
What we did together
Built trust, at every level. We started by building strong relationships, based on trust, across the whole organisation. Through those connections we developed a compelling vision for safety, health and the environment together, one that was broadly supported at every level.
Processes, systems and behaviour as one. Safety didn’t become a separate programme, but part of day-to-day management. We integrated the safety processes and systems into the wider management of the operation.
A behavioural framework, linked to the Bradley Curve. Axisto’s behavioural framework describes the behaviours that belong to each level of the Bradley Curve. By testing their own behaviour against it, the teams saw for themselves where they stood, and what their next step was.
Insight into how the organisation was experiencing the change. With our Change Insider, management and team leaders gained continuous insight into how people were experiencing the change. Team leaders used those insights to develop their teams further. When management worried that the pace was too high, the Change Insider showed the opposite: because more and more employees at every level were contributing ideas and helping shape the vision, people were actively pulling the changes into their daily work.
Coaching in the workplace. We coached the various management layers in day-to-day operational practice: practically, and focused on what the person being coached wanted to learn. Combined with a clear focus on continuous improvement, this was highly valued.
The approach and process passed to the line organisation, which now carries them entirely on its own.
What it delivered
- Recordable incidents: −75%
- First-aid cases: −75%
- Safety improvement suggestions: +300%
- From two or three unplanned last-minute risk assessments (LMRAs) a day to one or two planned ones a week
- Safety KPIs fully integrated into operational reporting, with a shift from lagging to leading indicators
- The behavioural framework fully integrated into employee development
- The coaching approach adopted by managers at various levels
- An ongoing process of learning from one another
What happened afterwards
The corporate SHE manager visited the site six months after the programme ended. People were proud of the improvements, had a clear picture of where they wanted to go, and knew how to get there.
Throughout the engagement he stayed in constant contact with us: we kept him informed, he acted as a sounding board, and together we made sure the group’s safety policy was properly anchored in the programme.
