Beyond Compliance: Changing the Safety Culture in Food and Hospitality (Part 5 of 10) Part 5: The Most Dangerous Phrase in Safety
One of the most dangerous phrases I've heard throughout my career isn't about equipment or chemicals.
It's this: "We've always done it that way."
Ive heard it when discussing lifting practices.
I've heard it when reviewing injuries.
I've heard it when questioning processes that put employees at risk.
Sometimes the biggest obstacle to improving safety isn't budget, staffing, or resources.
It's tradition.
When an injury occurs, we often look at the event itself. But the real question is whether the process was flawed long before the injury happened.
If a task is difficult, uncomfortable, rushed, or consistently leads to near misses, thats not an employee problem.
Thats a process problem.
The best safety cultures challenge assumptions instead of defending them.
Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean it should continue.
Progress starts with asking uncomfortable questions.
What processes have you seen that continue simply because "that's how we've always done it?"
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