Metro News Release
For immediate release: October 28, 2010
Metro takes initial steps to build prevention-focused safety culture
Employee survey results establish roadmap for improvement
Metro already has taken the initial steps in building a prevention-focused safety culture and these steps will be enhanced by the recommendations and findings of an employee survey that were presented at the first meeting of the Metro Board’s Safety and Security Committee held earlier today (October 28).
“These survey results provide a clear roadmap to develop a long-term action-specific safety plan to reach our goal to make safety fundamental in our day-to-day operation,” said Interim General Manager Richard Sarles. “The plan itself will dovetail actions we already have taken to improve our safety culture.”
Metro has taken actions to encourage reporting of safety concerns and place a high value on employee involvement including establishing an employee hotline for anonymous reporting, reinforcing its Whistleblower Policy and initiating discussions with Local 689 to establish a non-punitive program for reporting near misses. Metro has also established a program, Champions of Safety, to recognize employees who have made outstanding safety contributions and achievements.
In addition, the Board of Directors retained independent consultants to complete an assessment and provide recommendations for improvement of Metro’s safety culture. The results of the survey will aid in their efforts.
The employee safety survey results were presented by Scott Bohannon, General Manager of the Corporate Executive Board, which designed and conducted the survey completed by 9,317 Metro employees. CEB tends to see participation rates in the 50 to 60 percent range for most of the cultural surveys it runs and indicated that the high level of participation at Metro is “a very strong statement from employees that safety is a critical issue for them,” Bohannon said.
This survey “is significant as part of our commitment to a proactive, systemic approach to safety at Metro,” said Mortimer Downey, chairperson of the Safety and Security Committee. “It is vitally important that we understand how all employees perceive safety as we build an organization that is dedicated, from the frontline to the Board of Directors, to preventing incidents from ever taking place. The role of employees in this effort is critical to its success.”
“By being the first transit authority in our benchmark, we think Metro is setting the standard for other organizations to model themselves,” Bohannon said. “Metro did not shy away from any potential bad news and recognized that many challenges would be identified. This is a testament to Metro’s commitment to improving safety.”
Among the findings of the survey is that there is no one safety culture at Metro today. Different groups of employees have different perceptions about Metro based on their different job functions and work locations.
Second, approximately 60 percent of those surveyed said that they have observed a safety concern or violation in the past year while on the job at Metro. However, of those observing concerns, approximately 70 percent reported them, with the primary reporting channel being their supervisor. The number one safety concern that employees observed while on the job, as well as the one most often reported, was unsafe working conditions.
Third, there is a strong concern about retaliation. Employees said that they fear how their peers might react and whether Metro would respond and protect them.
Mid-level managers were found to be the most positive about safety and Metro’s safety culture in general. This result was encouraging as it provides an influential group that can help reinforce safe behavior and establish a safety culture.
The CEB provided recommendations for turning around the culture. The short- and mid-term recommendations included the importance of communicating the survey results to the 10,000-plus employee workforce and investigating incidents that were identified through written comments. Long-term recommendations suggested that Metro continue to develop a better understanding of major safety concerns relating to unsafe working conditions and behaviors by employees.
Metro has already begun to increase initiatives geared toward increased reporting of observed safety violations. The transit agency has established an employee safety hotline, strengthened its whistleblower protection policy and initiated discussions with its largest employee union on development of a non-punitive near-miss reporting program. Safety officers also have been assigned to work in operational facilities, be on site during major track projects and participate and oversee accident/incident investigations
The findings also recommended sharing “success stories” of employees who report safety concerns, which Metro has begun to do at board meetings and in the General Manager’s weekly email to employees.
Recommendations also called for establishment of incentive programs to recognize and reward safe behavior. As a first step, Metro launched its Champions of Safety Recognition Program to honor accomplishments of employees who have either reached milestones in the safe operation of transit vehicles or provided crucial support services that enabled safe operation of transit vehicles. Nominations have already been received and the first winners will be honored at a special event planned for next month (November).
News release issued at 10:17 am, October 28, 2010.