iforSafety™

Do a Self Assessment of Your Safety System

INTRODUCTION

What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

— Quote from The Little Prince

The iExam is a web-based assessment which determines which ingredients of a safety system your organization is missing or that could be done better. It is very easy and can be completed in less than 45 minutes. The questions range from basic to complex but the substance of these questions is recognized in the industry as being necessary to determine the performance level of the safety system. You will learn what you don’t know and what you do know about your company’s safety culture. And from there, you will have a starting point to improve the culture. Our Recommendations for Improvement can be used as a starting point to facilitate discussion and bring positive change in your company.

IngredientsWhile there are a variety of ingredients to creating a sustainable safety system, there are basic ingredients common to every successful safety system. These are: providing leadership by inventing or creating the system, investing in the system to demonstrate commitment, integrating safety with other core organizational values, introducing employees to the safety management system at the earliest possible stage,  involving employees in the system to establish trust, informing employees about the system by providing clear communication, instructing employees about the expectations of the system, inspecting the workplace to seek out potential hazards, investigating all accidents and near misses to determine the root cause, holding employees accountable by intervening whenever necessary, influencing morale by providing a meaningful safety incentive program, and finally providing indicators to measure the safety system’s success. These twelve ingredients – all starting with the letter “i” – hence “i for safety™” – provide an organized way of achieving safety excellence and helps create an injury free culture or climate.

What can taking the iExam do for you?

It helps you assess the maturity of your current safety system and is your first step to truly making a difference in the performance of your safety system. It identifies organizational and management attributes that contribute to a strong and sustainable safety culture. The iExam defines the level of proficiency or maturity for each ingredient. Recommendations are made to help you move to the next ingredient.

This assessment is by no means scientific. It is based on my own personal experience, education and a review of the literature on the topics of safety culture and organizational effectiveness. I developed the scoring system. I believe this assessment is a useful tool to help you gauge the organization’s commitment to safety based on twelve strategic principles that I have utilized throughout my career. I have found when there is an increased focus on health and safety and the organization follows these principles, it translates into a safer, healthier workplace.

iExam Score Results Indicate Level of Safety System Proficiency (Success)

When you receive your iExam score, the results indicate the overall effectiveness of the safety system. The assessment then measures your strengths and weaknesses for twelve key ingredients in creating a sustainable safety system. The Recommendations for Improvement is your Action Plan for targeting each ingredient. Use the exam to establish a baseline of your company’s safety performance. As recommendations are implemented you can retest to measure your progress over time. As mentioned in the paragraph above, the overall score on the iExam constitutes the level at which your company’s health and safety system is scored. Please note this level is an informal assessment of the system based on the responses provided by the person taking the assessment. The score does not represent a compliance judgment by Health & Safety Solutions, Inc. meaning it does not determine whether your company is in compliance with OSHA regulations.