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culture for any business or utility. Each core element must be developed to its fullest potential for the culture to develop and flourish. The seven elements are as follows (adopted from the OSHA safety and health model 4 ): 1. Management Leadership 2. Worker Participation 3. Hazard Identification and Assessment 4. Hazard Prevention and Control 5. Education and Training 6. Program Evaluation and Improvement 7. Communication and Coordination for Host Employers, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies. Management Leadership Utility directors, plant managers, and shift supervisors are all considered managers in some form or fashion. A committed management unit provides clearly defined objectives and goals for organizational safety behavior. They finance the activities of safety through purchases and resource allocations. Every level of management values safety practices and accomplishments as much as regulatory compliance to water quality. Steps to implement leadership commitment to safety: • Write or personally sign a clearly defined safety policy that acknowledges that safety and health are as important as productivity, water quality, regulatory compliance, and customer service • Communicate the policy and values to all levels of the organization • Visually set examples of safety behavior and demonstrate actions consistent with a safety culture • Allocate resources for safety and health • Hold all levels of the organization accountable for safety performance. Worker Participation Workers must feel valued in the entire process of developing a safety culture. Without the workers' participation, the transition will be forced and doomed to fail because of the constant reinforcement of rules and internal regulations. Supervisors will then be forced to punish unsafe behavior disproportionately to rewarding safe behaviors. Workers should feel empowered to: • Access information regarding safety and health policies • Participate in all phases of the program's design and implementation • Report injury and illness without retaliation or adverse consequences • Suggest how to remove barriers to health and safety • Hold peers and management accountable for safety and health. Hazard Identification And Assessment A hazard is any condition or action that can cause an organizational loss. An organizational loss can come in the form of an injury, illness, damaged equipment, or even worker turnover. When a loss occurs, the organization must determine the root cause of the loss and not just the symptoms leading to the loss event. The assessment process must be structured and detailed and deliver actionable measures to address the root cause. Hazard identification and assessment can be accomplished by: • Worksite analysis of past, present, and predictive data from reports, instrumentation and maintenance logs, and worker injury and illness records • Worksite inspections for safety hazards • Investigations of each accident until the root cause is completely disclosed • Identification of hazards that may arise outside of normal operating conditions, including emergencies, startup, or shutdown operations • Characterization of the true composition of a hazard — assign a priority value and identify appropriate hazard controls. 30 wateronline.com n Water Innovations LABOR Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Hierarchy of Controls Elimination Substitution Engineering Controls Administrative Controls PPE Physically remove the hazard Replace the hazard Isolate people from the hazard Change the way people work Protect the worker with personal protective equipment (PPE) Most effective Least effective