Table 3.

Participant quotes regarding safety culture

• “I’m fortunate that the president and CEO understand the value of safety, not just bottom-line dollars and cents, but that our people are our best asset and we don’t want them to get hurt.”

• “Really, integrity is your stock and trade. If somebody comes to you for help and you blow them off, they’re not going to come to you again. […] Involve everybody from the bottom up. That way, there’s opportunity for voices to be heard.”

• “We want to give them the tools and training, and also encourage them to speak up when something’s not right. We explain that there’s not going to be any reprimand, because they come from other companies, and sometimes there’s a few people who are afraid to speak up.”

• “Having people come up to me and report safety concerns, and then following through on addressing those concerns, that makes for nice processes where workers feel comfortable bringing issues to me and knowing that I’ll resolve them the best that I can.”

• “We invite workers to attend safety meetings and provide us feedback on any improvement we can do to our safety program. Most of the time, great recommendations are coming from our front-line employees.”

• “They look out for themselves and take a preventative approach. It is a very active environment. It is by its nature a ‘get it done, get it done, get it done’ process and environment. But, I can see over 20-some years that I’ve been involved in the industry, that it has gone from ‘get it done’ to ‘get it done safely, get it done right.’ The culture has changed.”

• “The culture change that we’re looking for is the mindset of being safe. It doesn’t matter where they come from, some people just get that production mindset, ‘Have to get it done as quickly as possible,’ not realizing you need to be safe as well. I’d rather have you go home with all your fingers and toes and your life.”