Safety & Accountability at Work

Well into the 21st century, the question of safety and accountability continues to play an integral role in workplace environments. Indeed, it is an issue that has to be addressed both on the macroscopic and microscopic levels in order to ensure the health and safety of not only the workers comprising an organization, but the company as a whole.

Responsibility

Ultimately, the questions of safety and accountability in the workplace environment are tied directly to the issue of responsibility. While employers are often forced to accept responsibility in legal contexts when an accident occurs, employees can often be held accountable. Therefore, all workers must clearly understand their responsibility for working towards preventing accidents and creating a safe work culture.

Structure

In most manufacturing environments, a safety manager will be employed to ensure safety standards are maintained in the workplace. The safety manager cannot, however, be in all places at all times. Hence, the principle of accountability comes into play---which is something that all workers should be expected to embrace.

The Stop-Work Model

Some workplaces have gone so far as to institute a "stop work" model to ensure safety. This ensures that any worker at any time has the authority to stop all work on a production line in order to prevent an accident from occurring. Chevron is one example of a company that has put such a procedure into place.

References

• "Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability"; Sidney Dekker; 2007
• The Oz Principle: Creating A Culture Of Accountability For Safety