Good soup starts with high-quality ingredients that are fresh, in the right quantities and prepared by a good cook.  The recipe for safety soup is the same.  Since the beginning of the industrial age, safety “cooks” have looked for the right “recipe” to target a zero injury workplace.  However, just like the old saying goes, “Too many cooks can spoil the soup.” 
Employees would call this the “flavor of the month safety.”  For this reason, we researched and found the main ingredients that create a successful safety soup:  management commitment, employee involvement, worksite analysis, hazard recognition and control, and training.

The Recipe for Safety Soup
Many will agree that to target zero injuries you have to have senior management support.  When leaders don’t set the safety direction, a proper base for the soup will be lacking.  Base is a vital part of a great soup.  The base touches all the other ingredients and spreads the spice (or enthusiasm) throughout.  This enthusiasm provides motivation for employees to be involved.

Employee involvement is the “meat” of the safety soup.  As employees get involved, they stir and cook the process and absorb enthusiasm from the management team.  Soon the meat (or employees) becomes as much a part of the soup as the base while having individual roles for providing substance and purpose for the safety process.  Base and meat by themselves don’t make a hardy soup.  It takes additional ingredients complement the base and the meat.

Worksite analysis provides valid information to train everyone in the recognition and control of hazards.  When a new hazard is introduced to the worksite, the process begins and improves the safety soup.  Training keeps the mixture potent and tasty over time.  With these main ingredients in the soup additional content such as a new and colorful safety presentation enhances the soup to make it more fulfilling and interesting.

The Right Mixture Yields Positive Results
Making safety soup is about targeting zero injuries in each worksite so nobody gets hurt.  No magic mixture makes this soup satisfy every appetite, but with the primary ingredients in place, you can expect to have a safety culture where everyone can accept personal responsibility for safety. 

Carl Potter, CSP, CMC and Deb Potter, PhD, CMC work with organizations that want to create an environment where nobody gets hurt.  As advocates of a zero-injury workplace, they are safety speakers, authors, and consultants to industry. For information about bringing Carl and Deb to your company or your next conference, contact them at Potter and Associates International, Inc. 800-259-6209 or carl@potterandassociates.com