By Dr. Lori Guasta, director of organizational behavior and emerging markets, Safety Solutions International

This presentation will discuss how to assess a company’s safety culture and develop and implement a culture enhancement plan. Emphasis will be given to the importance of measuring or assessing culture before attempting to manage it. Working collaboratively with clients to construct customized surveys that are most relevant to company and site-specific programs will be highlighted. Characteristics of positive safety culture will also be presented as a framework to guide assessments in an attempt to combine academic knowledge and best practice from industry. A theme in this presentation relates to the blending of art and science: the science of managing safety and the art of leading the most valuable resource in any occupational culture–people. The use of both industry experts and academics will be presented as an effective way to meet this assessment goal.