Creating the proper public health culture

When I started my first career as a Safety and Health professional, I remember a co-worker who had spent 20 years in the Safety area sharing with me an interesting point. He said “In the Safety and Health field, as a professional, you are either a Fire person or a Police person. The one you are depends on the culture set by the employer.”

I didn’t understand him at first but after multiple conversations with him and guidance and instructions from other experienced Safety and Health persons, I understood what he meant.

If you are your company’s safety and health professional, your ability to effectively do your job is highlight dependent on the culture set by your employer.

If your employer does not put safety and health as a priority, then as a safety and health profession, you are spending most of your time ‘putting out fires’. As such, you are spending more time correcting behaviors, identifying violations, and serving as the ‘villian’ in terms of the impact you have in the work place.

However, if your employer puts safety and health as a priority, then as a safety and health profession, you are spending most of your time ‘as an enforcer”. As such, you are ensuring compliance with the overall safety program. You are reinforcing how the reduction of injuries and illnesses ensures the health and well being of employees as well as positive affecting the financial interest of the company.

In both cases, the effectiveness of the program all depends on the culture established by the employer. This means your safety and health program is either an ALL COMPANY approach where everyone is expected to operate within a well articulated company wide program. Or, this means your safety and health program is an EVERY MAN / WOMAN FOR HERSELF approach where everyone is not given any clear guidance but may be effectively punished for violating rules and regulations they were unfamiliar with.

The reality is that any successful and proper Health culture in an employment setting must be established by the Employer. The employer sets the standards for the company as a whole so the success or failure of any program or compliance is based on the culture established by the employer and followed by the company.

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