Continuing Development of a Safety Culture from the Ground Up: Building Competencies of HSE Employees to Become Better Business Partners to the Organization

Abstract

Traditional approaches to safety culture improvements generally focus on factors such as behavioral safety programs, human error and leadership skills. Programs tend to focus exclusively on the employees and managers. All too often the important role of HSE staff in the development of a safety culture is neglected. Yet, the organization turns to the HSE function for expertise, advice, and support. Thus, it is essential that the HSE organization is competent in technical matters and behavioral knowledge. Neglecting the role of the HSE staff reduces the effectiveness of safety culture improvements. However, when HSE staff is competent and consistently motivating the organization towards a strong safety culture, operational managers, and then supervisors, and ultimately employees will consistently follow. An HSE technical program for HSE staff was developed, providing core technical and behavioral skills for them to fulfil their roles efficiently and effectively as business partners in the organization. The aim of the project was to increase technical and core non-technical competencies of HSE, thereby accelerating the development of a strong safety culture. This paper discusses the HSE Technical Academy Program, the benefits to the business, preliminary findings, and critical aspects for success. It is proposed that increasing technical and core non-technical competencies of HSE staff offers value to our industry as a means to support the continuing journey towards creating a safe industry.