Keeping People Safe: The Human Dynamics of Injury Prevention

Many companies have taken steps to improve awareness and management of safety systems, yet safety directors continue to report high injury rates. In Keeping People Safe: The Human Dynamics of Injury Prevention, author Josh Williams provides safety leaders with information they can use to further reduce injuries and improve workplace safety. This book addresses five integral components of workplace safety: Systems/Conditions, Leadership, Behaviors, People-Factors, and Communication. It recommends strategies for every aspect of safety management from organizational commitment and safety culture to improving managerial behavior and working with union members. These recommendations are based on years of practical experience, empirical research on the human dynamics of safety, and seminal studies in social psychology on authority and conformity. Utilizing the hugely influential and widely practiced model of Behavior Based Safety, Williams provides the safety manager with all the tools needed to lower injury rates and improve safety. Numerous charts and tables, a checklist for improving safety performance, and a foreword by world-renowned safety leader E. Scott Geller complement the text.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Safety Management Systems and Conditions Chapter 2 Safety Leadership Chapter 3 People Factors for Safety Chapter 4 Safety Behaviors Chapter 5 Safety Communication

About the Author :
Dr. Josh Williams is a Senior Project Manager with Safety Performance Solutions (SPS) in Blacksburg, Virginia. He has published articles in numerous professional and academic journals, and he is the co-editor of Keys to Behavior-Based Safety (2001).

Review :
Finally, in one easily read book, the tools for developing an effective organizational safety culture are explained and detailed with real world experience. This book is the guide you have been waiting for if you are starting the search for answers on influencing your company's safety culture, or if you need to evaluate your personal approach toward safety. Dr. Williams has successfully compiled the pertinent research-dealing with both the people and the programmatic sides of the equation-and delivers an excellent resource to anyone looking to positively impact their safety culture. Excellent book, this will help organizations to educate employees, get engagement at all levels, and help companies to evolve to improve processes, skills, and competencies. Outstanding blend of theory, principles, basics, and the practical; particularly like the research facts, recommendations, and ideas for improving the current organizational thinking and practices. The total safety culture must include every employee and this book deals with executive through craft behaviors. In Keeping People Safe, Dr. Josh Williams provides us with insights from his experience of 15 years working to improve employee safety. He asks what leaders can do to impact employee motivation, attitudes, and, most importantly, the behaviors that put them at risk by extending the discussion of People-Based Safety (PBS) emphasized by E. Scott Geller. Dr. Williams translates the extensive research behind PBS into straightforward examples of principles shown to impact organizational safety culture (and mixes in humor while he's at it). The level of detail and tested advice in this book will make it THE desktop companion for any safety professional. Many safety articles and books rely on "common sense" rather than empirical research. Dr. Williams fuses his personal experiences in implementing behavior-based safety and people-based safety with scientifically validated concepts. In Keeping People Safe, Dr. Williams addresses the importance of organization safety culture as well as the leadership, communication, and people-based factors and skills necessary to improve your organization's safety culture. The concepts in this book are supported with real-world examples and will be useful for safety professionals, managers, supervisors, safety committee members, employees and union workers. A must read for anyone interested in positively impacting their organization's safety culture. After watching Josh in action implementing a BBS program I was very interested to read his latest book; it lived up to expectations and then some. His research is thorough and he builds a vision that takes safety from an administrative burden to a business-strengthening cultural driver. It will be a reference for me going forward.