Safety Is Not Optional: Bayer HealthCare Communications Program Sam Zabor and Lester Cacao Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Berkeley, California, U.S. Need/Opportunity / From 2001 to 2007, safety performance at the Berkeley, California site of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals was dismal. The number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable and lost time injuries at this bio-manufacturing site remained at what were considered to be unacceptable levels. (In 2007, the site experienced 44 recordable incidents, 11 of them severe. According to OSHA, the average incidence rate in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is 2.2 injuries per 100 workers. Berkeley s incidence rate was 2.9 injuries per 100 well above average, and well below company standards.) Through observation, informal surveys and discussions with managers, the public policy & communications team identified that leadership was not adequately reinforcing the importance of safe behavior, and that many employees also lacked hazard recognition skills. Simply stated, staying safe on the job was not a part of the daily conversation. Additionally, it became apparent, through discussions with managers and supervisors, that there remained a need to shift the culture at Bayer HealthCare to one that emphasizes that safety is not optional. Supervisors appreciated the value of communication campaigns but admitted that employees needed to take responsibility for their own safety. The communication team was tasked with producing a proactive year-round communication plan that aimed to reduce the number of on-site injuries for 2008 by empowering employees to walk the talk. Intended Audience(s) / The audience consisted of all Bayer HealthCare Berkeley employees, specifically those working on the production line and in maintenance functions. Characteristics include the following: 4 The workforce is a blend of high school and college graduates. 4 Employees range in age from 22 to 60+ years old. 4 Both male and female workers are on the production line. 4 A number of different cultures and primary languages are represented. After receiving feedback from people managers and focus groups, the communication team was very familiar with their audience. Typically, this has been a difficult audience to reach with online and printed communications, due to its lack of access to e-mail and Internet. Additionally, because this audience performs shift-specific work, it made it difficult to schedule safety-focused meetings. Goals and Objectives / The overall campaign goal was to reduce the number of on-site injuries on the Berkeley site sufficiently to bring the final OSHA recordable rate to 2.0, using 2007 injury data as a baseline. _ 242
Objectives 4 Further develop a safety-first culture by making safety top of mind with associates. 4 Motivate employees to change behaviors in order to decrease the number of work-related injuries. 4 Increase awareness of safety issues and how to be safe at work. Strategies 4 Humanize safety to make it more persuasive and encourage better decision making. 4 Engage leaders to walk the talk and show sincere concern and caring for employee safety. 4 Increase visual cues on the Berkeley campus. 4 Strengthen peer-to-peer safety-related communication. Solution Overview / The communication team produced a proactive, integrated and streamlined communication plan in an effort to communicate the importance of safety initiatives. The team needed to make sure the campaign: 4 Aligned with current safety training initiatives. 4 Enforced the importance of integrating safety into every part of the job every day. 4 Empowered managers to enforce the rules and correct any violations. 4 Aligned with personal performance measures and other HR processes. 4 Engaged site leaders (if even one leader was not seen as on-board, the plan would lose credibility). The team took a grassroots approach in the implementation of the program, first gaining buy-in for the campaign early on from leadership and mid-level managers in order to establish faces for the Safety Is Not Optional campaign. The communication team then approached supervisors and union leaders with the new program in an effort to form allies on the manufacturing floor. Finally, communications began with technical operators and employees from other functions (e.g., general workers), in an effort to make safety communications a part of their daily conversation. This approach was chosen because the team believed face-to-face communications would work best with this audience. Also leadership would need to lead by example in order to gain the attention of the target employees. This effort required a higher level of commitment by leadership than previous safety efforts and additional man-hours for the communication team to accomplish its goal. Additionally, the team learned that an employee had shot video from his office window to capture traffic violations on the Berkeley campus. This video was eye-opening and showed extensive negligence, so the communication team showed it at the first town hall meeting of the year as a way to demonstrate the need for employees to change their behaviors. This was a key aspect that was used to kick off the Safety Is Not Optional campaign. The campaign also included traditional communication elements: 4 Site training meetings _ 243
4 Walkabouts /face-to-face meetings by site leadership 4 One-on-one conversations with people managers 4 Employee incentive programs 4 Town hall meeting updates 4 Safety awareness events 4 Site signage and infrastructure improvements 4 Internet/online resources The internal communications manager acted as project manager for this campaign, seeking to ensure that safety communications were woven into as many existing programs and communications as possible. The manager also worked to coordinate each of the safety-related events on-site, as well as managed day-to-day internal communication duties. The manager worked closely with the health, environmental & safety team on campus to gain buy-in and make sure their efforts were as integrated as possible throughout the year. The safety communication campaign became about 10 15 percent of the manager s day-to-day responsibilities. Implementation and Challenges / As the team began implementing the safety program, they identified a number of significant challenges: 4 The need for increased production on-site created the perception that production was more important than safety. 4 Some teams had already adopted innovative safety programs, but they were not consistent across the facility. 4 Supervisory skills varied when it came to reinforcing safety while meeting operations goals. 4 There was a perceived lack of repercussions for safety violations. 4 Safety compliance was not being reinforced enough with employee awards and recognition programs. As a result of these challenges, the communication team customized several tactics within the program, adding emphasis on employee recognition and enforcement policies. Moreover, there was added emphasis on existing programs, such as one called Caught Being Safe, as a way to positively reinforce safe behaviors. Participation in this program increased at least 50 percent since the start of the safety communication program, Safety Is Not Optional. The total budget for this initiative was approximately US$35,000 for the year, which included costs for printing materials and event planning. The team initiated the safety program beginning in February 2008, and quickly worked to develop communication materials and gain buy-in from site leadership. _ 244
Measurement/Evaluation / At the beginning of this program, the team established a baseline number against which to measure results. In 2007, the site reported 44 injuries (an injury rate of 2.9 per 100), 11 of those being severe. A significant reduction in the number of injuries would show the effectiveness of this communication program. The team checked the numbers on a quarterly basis and provided updates to management. Each quarter, a year-to-year reduction was reported in the number of injuries that occurred. In summary, the program met or exceeded its initial objectives: 1. Further develop the safety-first culture by making safety top-of-mind with associates: During town hall meetings, walkabouts by managers and in numerous printed materials, the word safety? was apparent in all proactive communications. Employees talked about safety and shared stories about incidents they witnessed. 2. Motivate employees to change behaviors to decrease the number of work-related injuries: At town hall meetings, employees gave personal testimonials about safety or safety incidents, and hammered home the important messages of change and stay safe, as well as other safe behaviors such as conscious hazard recognition. Employees frequently coached fellow colleagues on safety techniques (as was witnessed by people managers). 3. Increase awareness of safety issues and how to be safe: Feedback from employees showed the messages were breaking through. We talk about safety more often; I feel it s more important. I see some safety issues being fixed. Bayer employee, May 2008 About two months into Safety Is Not Optional, the safety team conducted an informal survey to identify which tactics were showing success and to identify any gaps in the program. Top-line data from this survey showed the following: 4 Forty-five percent of the site felt that it was completely true that they could arrive at work and perform their job safely. 4 Seventy percent of employees felt training sessions (both live and computer-based) completely or mostly communicated essential information on safety programs, requirements and procedures. After reviewing these statistics and related feedback, the team customized several tactics, including walkabouts, e-mails and site signs, in order to further train employees about safety tactics. That said, the program worked and employees were talking about it. When employees saw their leaders greeting them at the front gates to deliver safety messaging, walking the production floor asking about safety or discussing safety first at key meetings, they began to believe in the importance of _ 245
working safely at all times. In the past, there were safety programs in place to help employees identify and correct unsafe behaviors or conditions, but the atmosphere before this program was one of having to do these things, rather than wanting to do them. Essentially, when safety became a part of everything that the team did, whether it was respecting a crosswalk or performing a heavy lift, then the communication team knew it succeeded in creating a total safety culture on site. I feel that my safety and the safety of others is more important to management than in the past. Bayer employee, May 2008 Overall Program Result The communication team s work was a major success. As of 18 December 2008, the total number of injuries reported on-site was 25, a decrease from 44 in the same time frame in 2007. That is a 57 percent reduction year-to-year, and resulted in an OSHA recordable rate of only 1.4. More important, that translated into 19 fewer employees who dealt with a serious injury in 2008. _ 246