How can a prevention culture be improved ? Five management principles for companies

Context
– Occupational accidents and diseases are persisting
– Companies are fi nding it diffi cult to achieve “sustainable” prevention
– Management shortcomings are lie behind safety & health management
systems
– Developing a prevention culture out in the companies is a challenge
Aims of the action
– To shake up safety management routines
– To raise manager awareness of the need to develop a prevention culture
– To go beyond prevention approaches based on technical tools
– To make new resources available to companies for managing
occupational safety and health (OSH)
Method
– Analysing the conditions required for instilling a culture into a company
– Applying the principles of organisational learning (double-loop learning, see Argyris, 1993)
– Return on experience and sharing of good OSH management practices within a national working group in France
– Developing a multimedia project
Results
A thinking tool for refl ecting on prevention practices
• Five key management principles (listen to reality, defi ne limits, innovate, share, regulate)
for revitalising safety and health management (see diagram)
• A DVD containing
– Resources combining reports,
testimonies, documentation,
animated diagrams, etc.
– For anyone concerned with
occupational safety and health
in their company
– Essential information in 30 minutes
– Interactive
• Uses:
– A modulatable training tool for OSH specialists
(safety and health practitioners, occupational physicians, etc.)
– A tool for managers
Outlook
Safety and health management is a lever for learning about OSH
culture. It enables the setting within which daily work is done to
be called into question. Once developed, it will be a means for
regularly unlearning and re-learning, at the service of prevention.