Enhancing Your Safety Culture Seminar
Understanding how your existing safety culture functions is an important first step in improving the overall safety performance of your bus system. Bob has developed an interactive seminar designed for managers, supervisors, trainers, and drivers. The seminar is designed as an interactive program that helps transit professionals assess their current culture, understand the theories of high performing organizations, and assists in developing a plan for improvement.
It is based on Bob’s experience as a bus driver at the Chicago Transit Authority; progressive management experience in the Chicago area; a 25 year career at a dynamic bus system in Ames, IA; and his extensive consulting experience.
The program examines the successful safety cultures in other industries and how the safety culture prevalent in those industries is a key to their success. He provides background on bus transit safety evolution and current trends. He helps participants identify the forces within their organization that work against a safe, responsible, and efficient bus system.
The program is a positive focus program that builds on the existing strengths within your organization and helps enhance what is done well; while identifying and attacking the forces and practices that are detrimental to overall system safety. Accidents and collisions occur when drivers or supervisors make poor decisions. The decision making environment and factors that contribute to poor decisions are examined. The pressures and forces, positive and negative, from management are also examined for their role in the overall safety culture.
Building on the base of relevant organization development theories, he explains the negative forces that work against developing a high functioning safety culture. He uses five core elements of enhancing your safety culture and helps participants determine how their organization is positioned for these key elements.
Data – analyzes performance
Design – examines the physical environment
Communication – examines the language, written, unwritten, and spoken word, within a bus system and explains how that language affects performance
Motivation – explains meaningful techniques that affect driver performance and how some motivation programs can have a negative effect
Training – examines the core elements of a strong hiring and training program and how they affect the overall success of the bus system
The seminar focuses on the transportation operations section of your organization, although many of the theories and practices can also apply to the maintenance function. It is a proven program that, when implemented, can reduce your overall collision and claim rates. It is not just another program to put on your bookshelf. It requires a commitment to improvement throughout management and your entire transportation operations staff.
The seminar is normally presented to a small group of six to twelve participants over two consecutive days (approximately 15 hours) or it can be presented in three five-hour days. Participants can be from one bus system or several.
Contact Bob Bourne at 515-231-1370 or bob@bournetransit.com