Behind some of the worst safety disasters of our time lies a predictable array of causes, many of which speak to the culture that surrounds safety. These terrible events show us that successfully managing risk and protecting people’s lives doesn’t just involve having robust systems and controls in place. Equally as important is the influence of leadership, the quality of communication, and the attitudes that drive the way safety is done. Join Sentis Positive Safety Specialist Dr Vanessa Thiele as she contemplates what happens when culture goes wrong, and how a positive safety approach is necessary to avoid future disasters. Throughout this webinar she will discuss: • Using Positive Safety to drive positive change • Understanding the physical, social and psychological dimensions of safety • The role of the board in empowering a positive safety approach • The role of senior leaders in demonstrating commitment to safety.

1. LEARNING FROM DISASTER:
HOW A POSITIVE SAFETY
APPROACH SAVES LIVES
Copyright © Sentis Pty Ltd 2023. This document remains the intellectual property of Sentis Pty Ltd and is protected by copyright and
registered trademarks. No material from this document is to be reproduced or used in any format without express written permission.

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
Sentis acknowledges the traditional custodians
throughout Australia and recognises their connections to
land, waters and community.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on
which we meet today and pay our respects to elders past
and present. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. We do this
because we value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
history, culture and knowledge.

3. To change the lives
of individuals and
organisations for the
better, every day.

4. WHEN CULTURE
GOES WRONG

5. EXPLORING THE FACTS
Deepwater Horizon:
• The rig had 390 urgent maintenance
issues, requiring constant workarounds
• Competing interests of cost, time and
safety and number of stakeholders made
decision-making complex
• CEO messaging inconsistent with safety
• Operation went ahead despite many
leaders being new in their role
• Decisions on the massively over budget
project motivated by time/$$$

6. EXPLORING THE FACTS
OceanGate Titan
• Failure to prioritise safety and thorough
equipment inspections
• Disregarded potential issues with the
submersible’s structural integrity i.e.,
titanium and carbon fiber vs steel
• Many people had raised red flags re
cutting corners and experimental ideas
• CEO “tired of industry players who try to
use a safety argument to stop innovation”
• Decision-making motivated by innovation
and exploration over safety

7. THE FALLOUT FROM THE FACTS
• Priorities and focus from
senior leaders
• Pressure to meet deadlines /
budgets
• Inconsistent safety messaging
and incongruent
communication
• Cutting corners
• Unplanned workarounds
• Underreporting and failure to
stop the job
Catastrophic outcomes

8. CONVENTIONAL
SAFETY
VS
POSITIVE SAFETY

9. A VISION OF POSITIVE SAFETY
Positive safety is having the courage and conviction to set
the conditions for optimal safety where employees, teams,
and organisations flourish.

10. MANAGING safety behaviours
• Command & Control
• Autocratic, tell & correct
• Production over safety
• Power over
• Reduce the negatives
• Safety = absence of physical
harm
• Motivated by external
(metrics, bonuses, looking good
on paper)
SAFETY AS A COST VS SAFETY AS A CURRENCY
LEADING positive safety attitudes
• Care & Collaborate
• Participative, ask & coach
• Safe production
• Power with
• Cultivating the positives
• Safety = SAFE, WELL &
ENGAGED (positive physical,
social & psychological experience)
• Motivated to bring out the best in
their team

11. 1. We are aiming for compliance
2. We want to maintain compliance and reach zero injury
3. We are aiming for a collaborative and participative
safety culture
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE SAFETY FOCUS
IN YOUR ORGANISATION?
POLL

12. WHEN SAFETY IS ABOUT PROTECTING YOU FROM SOMETHING
Motivation for safety investment
Individual
Physical or psychological pain, injury
and disablement, death
Leadership
Having to police non-compliance,
dealing with team conflict, losing safety
bonus, doing paperwork
Organisational
Physical injury, bullying &
harassment, inclusion & diversity litigation,
fines, payouts, bad press and brand
damage, involvement from the regulator,
shut down
=
CONTROLLED MOTIVATION
“I have to” motivation
I.e., following safety protocols
because of external pressures such
as fear of punishment or desire for
rewards (such as achieving KPIs)

13. INFLUENCING
POSITIVE ATTITUDES

14. CREATE A STRONG VISION OF THE CULTURE YOU
WANT TO ACHIEVE
COST
What not to do
Absence of harm
Lag indicator focus
Correct and control
Blame
Error / mistake focused
Hunt the mistake
Blame the worker
Top down
Hide issues
Black and white rules
External Locus of Control
(ELOC)

15. CREATE A STRONG VISION OF THE CULTURE YOU
WANT TO ACHIEVE
CURRENCY
What to do
Presence of safety
Focus on capacity and
capability
Empower and collaborate
Learning from success
Hunt the good stuff
Look at the system
Walk a mile in your shoes
Freedom in a framework
Internal Locus of Control
(ILOC)

16. HOW DO YOUR PEOPLE EXPERIENCE SAFETY AT WORK?

17. UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCE OF THE WORKPLACE

18. WHAT IS A SAFE BRAIN?
Safe =
Protected, respected, valued, certain of role
and expectations, able to trust and be
trusted, sense of belonging & acceptance
Well =
Competent, confident, calm and grounded,
with the physical, mental & emotional
capacity to meet my demands
Engaged =
Doing meaningful work, connected to
people and purpose, intrinsically motivated,
able to contribute and see progress

19. WHEN SAFETY IS ABOUT PROTECTING YOU FOR SOMETHING
Motivation for safety investment
Individual
Being safe, well & engaged so I can invest
in the things that really matter to me
Leadership
Positive safety behaviours, team
cohesion, collaborative & motivated team
members, I value safe professional work,
don’t get tied up with paperwork and can
do my job!
Organisational
Being a great place to work, making
a positive impact on our people,
customers & community
=
AUTONOMOUS MOTIVATION
“I want to” motivation
I.e., following safety protocols out of
a genuine belief in safety
and because it aligns with one’s
values and identity

20. DRIVING POSITIVE SAFETY CULTURE
Controlled ‘I have to’
Safety Motivation
Autonomous ‘I want to’
Safety Motivation
SAFETY CULTURE
MATURITY QUIZ

21. AVOIDING THE
NEXT DISASTER:
WHO’S
RESPONSIBILITY
IS IT?

22. RESEARCH SAMPLE

23. LESSONS FROM SITES DOING WELL
Safety Culture Dimension Strength Frequency (% of Sites)
Safety mission and vision* 60%
Management safety commitment* 60%
Within-team safety communication 50%
Safety responsibility* 50%
Team support for safety 40%
Top five strength areas identified across sites operating at Private Compliance and Collaborative
levels of safety culture maturity.
*Denotes dimensions that have a strong correlation with safety culture maturity (Pearson Correlation ≥0.70)

24. SETTING THE TONE FROM THE TOP
Individual Contributors
Senior Executives
Board & CEO
Frontline Leaders
Individual Contributors
Frontline Leaders
Senior Executives
Board & CEO
Lead with a
Vision
Actively Care
Be Curious
Make Data
Based Decisions

25. LEAD WITH A VISION
• Ensure that the safety vision is fully integrated
with your purpose as a leader
• Safety is on the board agenda – not just TRIFR
but safety culture and the physical, social &
psychological wellbeing of employees
• Ensure leaders live and breathe the vision – and
that they are empowered to make safe decisions
• Link behaviours, performance and recognition to
your vision
• Use your vision to make the right decisions
every day

26. ACTIVELY CARE
• Treat ALL stakeholders, contractors etc., as your
own employees – give them the same care via high
standards and expectations
• Uphold safety as a core value and be willing to hire
(and fire) leaders who are not aligned
• Empower the leadership team to take accountability
for safety and their team
• Look for opportunities to grow the right values-
oriented people into new roles and responsibilities

27. BE CURIOUS
• Engage with stakeholders to identify potential
issues
• Listen to doubters and critics, not just yes-men
• Support a mechanism for all employees to raise
issues and concerns
• Actively encourage blame-free communication of
bad news
• Formally assess all incidents and near-misses and
take action to manage risk

28. MAKE DATA-BASED
DECISIONS
• Track helpful data, focus on ‘good’ data not
unreliable or invalid data
• Consider the behavioural impact of targets and
incentives – e.g., tick & flick culture, the TRIFR
effect driving underreporting
• Make decisions based on data
• Use data to act, make changes and do things
differently

29. 1. Leading with a vision
2. Actively caring
3. Being curious
4. Making data-based decisions
WHICH OF THE FOUR PRINCIPLES DO YOU FEEL YOUR
ORGANISATION NEEDS TO INVEST IN NOW?
POLL

30. POSITIVE SAFETY:
WIIFM?

31. OUTCOME OF A POSITIVE SAFETY APPROACH
• Senior leaders are committed to
safety
• Safe decisions and actions will
be backed and supported
• Positive safety
behaviours recognised
• Increased reporting of hazards,
mistakes & near miss
• Collaborating to find solutions
• Safety participation & initiative
Best possible outcome

32. Natural Disaster or ‘Man-Made’?

33. ...the fundamental causes were to be
found in the ingrained conventions
of Japanese culture: a reflexive
obedience; a reluctance to question
authority; and a devotion to 'sticking
with the program’.

34. SAME EVENT,
TWO DIFFERENT SAFETY CULTURES
Image: Wikimedia Commons

35. Increased
productivity and
performance
OUTCOMES OF A POSITIVE SAFETY WORKPLACE
Increased
discretionary
effort and
voluntary
reporting
Promotes
innovative and
creative team
members
Strong cohesive
team culture
Resilient and
highly motivated
team

36. Learn More About Positive Safety in Your Organisation
Would you like a copy of Positive
Safety in Your Organisation?
Hot off the press, this document is a
result of 20 years of applied
experience and represents the
progression of our safety
methodology from ZIP to Positive
Safety.
DISCOVER MORE
Express your interest

37. Safety Climate Survey
Would you like more information
on Sentis' Safety Climate Survey?
DISCOVER MORE
Express your interest

38. sentis.com.au 1300 653 042
Copyright © Sentis Pty Ltd 2023. This document remains the intellectual property of Sentis Pty Ltd and is protected by copyright and
registered trademarks. No material from this document is to be reproduced or used in any format without express written permission.
DR VANESSA THIELE
Positive Safety Specialist
Email: vanessa.thiele@sentis.com.au
Q&A
OVER TO YOU
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-vanessa-thiele-1648881b