How do you create a common safety culture on a gigantic construction site with several hundred employees who come from many different workplaces and different countries?
The solution is to create ownership and pride among the employees, says FLC’s safety team, which has made the Fehmarn construction site a safety success story … among other things with the help of an award ceremony.
Must be aware themselves
– We can make courses, and videos and drawings and everything, but if people don’t follow the instructions themselves, it won’t work. That’s why we try to build a common culture with our people, where they focus on safety, and they themselves are aware of it all the time, says Carsten Charly Hansen, who is HS&WE Manager Lolland at FLC.
Safety price every month
Every month, FLC awards a safety award to one or more employees, who are nominated by the immediate manager. The award gives pride and a sense of community, and this in turn creates ownership over the safety conditions at the workplace, says Carsten Charly Hansen.
Must do something special
Employees can be nominated for the award if they do something special for safety on the construction site. It can be either a group or a person who is honored for good behavior, a good solution if they have stopped a dangerous situation or helped a colleague who was in a dangerous situation. And there are indications that, along with all the other measures the safety team takes every day to secure the construction site against accidents, it is having an effect.
– Fortunately, we have not had any serious accidents yet, despite the fact that we are quite a large construction site, one must say. That’s how it would like to continue to be, smiles Carsten Charly Hansen.
