From Silence to Safety
Ensuring Safe Spaces for Non-Retaliation Reporting
BY ANNE THOM
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Do you believe that all safety incidents, including near misses and injuries, are reported? Most occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals would say they are not. According to the insurer Brown & Brown, 75 percent of all accidents are preceded by one or more near misses—unplanned events that didn’t result in illnesses or injuries but could have—that went overlooked because no harm occurred. Through better reporting of near misses and other safety incidents, OEHS professionals can improve workers’ quality and quantity of life. How do we influence workers to shift their perspectives from dreading the thought of reporting near misses and injuries to choosing to do so to protect their safety?
INSIGHTS FROM SAFETY PROFESSIONALS
In January, I conducted an informal poll of 32 safety professionals: why did they think employees did not report near misses or injuries at work? With the caveat that respondents were allowed to pick multiple answers, 43 percent thought that workers were too embarrassed or feared being labeled as complainers; 34 percent thought workers feared job loss or retaliation; 18 percent felt that employers discouraged reporting; and five percent thought that reporting processes were too complicated or wasted time.
These answers reflect opinions voiced by workers to safety professionals during investigations and discussions. They show that workers’ hesitation to report safety incidents may lie in labels given to them by others, fear of retaliation, and other factors rooted in their employers’ workplace safety cultures. Although the survey respondents represent only a small number of safety professionals in my professional circle, the results indicate that workers may be more likely to report near misses and injuries in workplaces that establish supportive safety cultures.
CASE STUDY: ESTABLISHING TRUST
Envision a workplace in which safety goes beyond policy to become an intrinsic part of the daily routine. Here, every person is more than an employee; they are custodians of their safety and that of their colleagues. This vision is not out of reach. I personally observed it become a reality due to transformative efforts by a dedicated environmental health and safety (EHS) team over five years.
Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, once relied on a rudimentary incident reporting system—a simple Word document accessed through ShareFile. Reports were funneled to the EHS team via emails and papers left in a tray in their office. While this system was adequate for the size of Dow AgroSciences’ staff at the time, it was due for an upgrade.
The management and EHS team realized that to reduce workplace injury rates, employees had to report near misses more often. The challenge was creating a safe, retaliation-free environment where employees could voice their safety concerns and suggest improvements without fear of reprisal.
The EHS team, with input from the company’s safety committee and employees, introduced an incident reporting system via SharePoint. Designed with user-friendliness and accessibility in mind, the system was straightforward and electronically available across various platforms in the facility. It became a widely used solution for addressing safety concerns, near misses, and other incidents, with an emphasis on protecting employee autonomy.
Autonomy was key to cultivating trust in the reporting system. Trust is the cornerstone upon which a robust safety foundation is built. Without trust, the EHS team’s efforts to foster a strong, positive safety culture at Dow AgroSciences would have crumbled.
The new incident reporting system was integrated into the new employee safety orientation program, becoming an essential part of the employees’ onboarding process. Every new employee was equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the system and report near misses and other safety-related issues confidently and anonymously, if they chose to do so.
The improved incident reporting system led to a rise in near miss reports at Dow AgroScience, and the company used this data to take a proactive approach to injury prevention, with remarkable results. In the first year of the EHS team’s effort, near-miss reports increased by 24 percent. By the end of the fifth year—2016—about 300 near misses were reported per year. However, in the same year, Dow AgroScience reported zero OSHA-recordable injuries on a campus of approximately 3,000 employees, an unprecedented record for the company.
This case study demonstrates how a workplace commitment to safety and continuous improvement, founded on a cornerstone of trust, can assist employers in developing more effective incident reporting systems that help reduce injuries and illnesses.
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
OEHS professionals must not get lost in safety policies, programs, requirements, regulations, and expectations. They must also consider the “human element”—factors that influence people’s decision-making and behavior—and establish trust to build a safety culture that supports, rather than penalizes, employees who report safety incidents. The basis for a good safety culture is visualized in Figure 1: the human element is in the center, and trust is the cornerstone, but servant leadership, communication, incident reporting systems, and training make up the rest of the foundation.
Figure 1. Trust, servant leadership, communication, incident reporting systems, and training form the foundation of an effective safety culture. The human element is at the center. Courtesy of Anne Thom.
Servant leadership. A safety program is only as good as the commitment of its management. If the hierarchy of an organization does not value an effective safety program, how can the organization expect employees to take the program seriously? Managers must not only tell workers to report safety incidents and reassure them that they won’t experience negative consequences for reporting. They must report incidents themselves and visibly support workers who do so if they are to truly make a positive impact on safety culture. They must lead through their actions to set the expectation for others.
Communication. The organization must establish a culture in which employees understand the value of a proactive approach to safety advanced through an incident reporting system. To do so, it must communicate to employees that reporting near misses and injuries is encouraged and expected. However, the organization must also celebrate and communicate safety successes, such as reductions in OSHA-reportable injuries. Communicating the data collected by the incident reporting system could also help employees prevent additional injuries and near misses by drawing attention to prevalent hazards.
Incident reporting system. The process for reporting safety incidents should be simple for employees to use. There is no need to overload workers with forms, whether paper or electronic. The reporting system could be as low-tech as the tried-and-true “suggestion box” or as high-tech as a QR code that leads to an information technology-supported app. The most important underlying factor when developing a reporting system is to ensure employees’ trust. They must feel that the organization will hear their reports, take action on reported hazards, and communicate the results of investigations to them. No employee should fear they will experience negative repercussions for reporting safety incidents.
Training. The organization must educate its personnel on how to recognize near misses, property damage, and injuries. When people understand why a reporting system is in place—to protect their health and safety—they are more likely to report safety incidents. Employers should also emphasize in new employee orientation programs that workers should report all incidents, no matter how small. This reaffirms expectations for the organization and its people.
EMPATHY AND INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS
Safety incidents are not always preventable, but injuries are. Preparing for safety incidents reduces workers’ risk of injury.
How the organization addresses an injury or near miss and the person affected by it influences the effectiveness of the investigation into the incident. The root cause of the incident can only be uncovered if the investigation is conducted with sensitivity to the concerns of those involved. Workers’ fear of backlash from their employer and hostility from their colleagues for disclosing an injury or near miss, as discussed with the survey of safety professionals above, limits the organization’s ability to find the safety issues that underlie every incident.
When OEHS professionals investigate an injury or near miss, they are addressing not only the incident, but also the individuals affected by it. Interviewing the people involved, particularly if they have been injured, requires skill and sensitivity. It’s crucial to exercise emotional intelligence in these situations. The concept of emotional intelligence, first introduced in the 1990s, has gained significant attention for its role in helping individuals manage their own emotions and recognize and influence the emotions of others.
The scenario below does not describe a real-life event, but these events have the potential to occur in many workplaces. This scenario is intended to show readers how an investigation into a safety incident might go awry when workers are not treated with sensitivity.
Scenario: Alice, an employee of a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe manufacturer, returned from her lunch break and tried to resume work. She needed to cut a section of PVC pipe that was one inch in diameter, but she couldn’t find the designated PVC cutter. Alice’s supervisor had instructed her to finish the task swiftly, so with a sense of urgency, Alice resorted to a utility knife not approved to cut PVC pipe. This led to the pipe slipping from her grip, which caused the knife to slice into her left hand. Alice’s supervisor and several other workers saw the injury occur and followed Alice to the first aid kit station to assist her.
No employee should fear they will experience negative repercussions for reporting safety incidents.
According to the company’s policy, supervisors were responsible for contacting the EHS team and administering first aid when safety incidents occurred. However, in this incident, another employee notified the plant manager of Alice’s injury before the EHS team could arrive on the scene. The plant manager quickly made his way to the shop floor, where he saw Alice receiving first aid from her supervisor and several colleagues.
Alice’s injury was not serious. The laceration on her hand was not deep enough to require stitches, and her tetanus vaccine was current. However, when the EHS team finally arrived on the shop floor, Alice was reluctant to discuss the circumstances that led to her injury. The EHS team ultimately could not determine what happened to the PVC cutter Alice had been using before her lunch break.
Discussion: This incident illustrates the potential for a minor safety incident to generate an exaggerated response, involving Alice’s supervisor, other coworkers, the plant manager, and the EHS team. Such responses can inadvertently create stressful and intimidating environments for affected employees.
Alice may have withheld information from the EHS team due to the overwhelming attention she received: being at the center of such a commotion can be embarrassing and intimidating, especially if an employee fears negative consequences for not adhering to company policies. In this scenario, the presence not only of Alice’s supervisor and peers, but also the plant manager, exerted significant psychological pressure on her. Alice’s resulting lack of openness in her conversation with the EHS team potentially obscured the underlying cause of the incident. In my experience, individuals in situations like this are often hesitant to disclose full information and prefer to avoid further scrutiny.
The other people in the facility could have managed the incident with greater emotional intelligence. Alice’s supervisor might have reassured her coworkers that she was all right and encouraged them to resume their regular duties. The plant manager could have been notified of Alice’s injury through a phone call and a detailed written report after her immediate needs had been met. Alice’s coworkers could have kept the event in perspective and not exaggerated its severity. Emotional intelligence is not just about understanding emotions but also managing them correctly to promote a positive safety culture and enhance situational awareness.
It’s common for people who experience injuries and near misses to feel overwhelmed and frightened. Empathy and clear communication from organizational leaders, EHS team members, and first responders are crucial to ensuring that workers who experience safety incidents feel secure and supported. A calm, understanding approach is essential to alleviating affected workers’ distress and fostering a trusting environment. Again, trust is the cornerstone on which organizations build positive safety cultures.
FOSTERING A CULTURE OF SAFETY
Creating a safe workplace is a continuous process that requires the collective effort of every individual in an organization. It is not only about requiring workers to adhere to policies but fostering a culture where safety is second nature. The Dow AgroSciences case study demonstrates that organizations can create work environments where incident reporting is encouraged and valued and that this environment leads to significant improvements in safety outcomes.
Establishing such a culture is not without challenges. You cannot prescribe an incident reporting system for your workforce; you must build it along with the people that it’s intended to benefit. It is crucial to create a foundation of trust and ensure a retaliation-free environment. This involves leadership commitment, effective communication, user-friendly system design, and comprehensive training.
The role of emotional intelligence in handling safety incidents cannot be overstated. It is essential to approach incidents with empathy and sensitivity, ensuring that the affected individuals feel supported and secure. This approach aids in revealing the root causes of incidents and reinforces trust within the organization.
Near misses are bound to happen occasionally, but injuries are preventable. By fostering a culture of safety, which treats incident reports as opportunities for improvement rather than causes for punishment, organizations can enhance their safety and protect their most valuable assets—their people.
ANNE THOM, OHST, is a senior health, safety, and environment advisor with Safety Management Group.
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Akacin Phonsawat/Getty Images, khwanchai/Adobe Stock
RESOURCES
Brown & Brown: “Reporting Near Misses in the Workplace” (PDF, 2023).
Imagination, Cognition, and Personality: “Emotional Intelligence” (March 1990).
National Safety Council: “Near Miss Reporting Systems” (PDF, May 2013).
Occupational Health & Safety: “Belief in the Impossible” (May 22, 2017).
SafetyPedia: “Emotional Intelligence and Safety: How to Create a Safer Workplace Through Emotional Intelligence” (July 7, 2023).
VPPA: “Good Catch—Now What?” (March 10, 2022).