Characteristics of successful safety programs

Abstract

This research was a companion study to an earlier questionnaire study by calling, Smith, and Colin (1975) in which safety program practices of matched pairs of low and high accident rate plants were compared to determine factors that might account for the difference in safety performance. On-site surveys were made of a sample of seven pairs of the questionnaire respondents in order to expand on the results of Colin et al. the on-site surveys resulted in finding similar to the questionnaire study, but reported additional differences in safety program practices that could account for the plant safety performance. The data indicated that the low accident companies differed from their matched high rate partners in the following ways: greater management commitment and involvement in the safety program and safety matters; a more humanistic approach in dealing with employees stressing frequent positive contact and interaction; better employee selection procedures; more frequent use of lead workers to train employees versus supervisors; a much greater degree of housekeeping and general plant cleanliness; better plant environmental qualities; and low turnover and absenteeism among a more stable workforce.

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