Saskatchewan construction industry highlights 'true leading indicator of safety performance'
A Safety Culture Survey tool is making significant strides in improving workplace safety across the Saskatchewan construction industry. Developed by the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) in collaboration with EHS Analytics, this survey tool is proving to be an invaluable asset in predicting workplace injuries and enhancing Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance.
With participation from nearly 800 construction companies, this initiative marks the largest industry-wide survey of its kind. The tool leverages the Institute for Work & Health Organizational Performance Metric (IWH-OPM), an eight-item questionnaire designed to assess safety-related values and beliefs within workplace cultures. Over three years, EHS Analytics analyzed data from six rounds of the survey, yielding key insights into the effectiveness of safety practices.
Among the survey's key findings is a strong correlation between high survey scores and lower future lost time injury rates. The data also pinpointed specific areas where safety improvements could significantly reduce injury risks. Companies participating in the survey are now better equipped to benchmark their safety performance against industry standards and peers, and the tool has confirmed the effectiveness of COR® certification.
The tool’s predictive capabilities have drawn praise from industry leaders. “Our analysis has proven that the Safety Culture Survey is a true leading indicator of safety performance,” says MK, Data Science Team Lead at EHS Analytics. “Finding easy-to-measure, effective leading indicators in safety is incredibly challenging, and the Safety Culture Survey provides companies with the ability to foresee and mitigate potential hazards before they result in incidents. Leading indicators are often considered the 'Holy Grail' in safety for predicting risk, and this tool achieves that goal.”
SCSA members are invited to participate in the survey and access their results through a custom analytics dashboard. This feature allows companies to compare their scores with peers, identify areas for improvement, and monitor their safety performance over time. “Having insights into one’s own company in a way that can predict incidents is a game changer,” says SCSA President Collin Pullar. “We encourage all of our members to utilize this simple but insightful culture survey to better understand where they are doing well, but also better recognize and address weakness in their culture to prevent potential injuries. This is a powerful Canadian-built tool and we would love to see as many companies as possible use it, and learn from it to prevent accidents within their workforces.”
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) also underscores the significance of this tool. “At the Institute for Work & Health, our mission is to conduct and mobilize research that supports policy-makers, employers and workers in creating healthy, safe and inclusive work environments,” says Dr. Peter Smith, president of IWH. “To that end, it is heartening to see health and safety organizations such as the SCSA use the IWH-OPM to both understand organizational health and safety practices over time, and to better understand the relationships between these practices and safety outcomes in Saskatchewan.”
The Safety Culture Survey is conducted biannually, with the next round set to begin on September 23, 2024.
