SCL encourages intrinsic motivation for safe action

To reduce the number of accidents in construction, certification of equipment was first mandated. This was followed by certification of processes. Now that the number of accidents is still not decreasing, the Safety Culture Ladder is the means to boost the safety awareness of people in construction.

Text | Liliane Verwoolde  Image | Kiwa Netherlands

"A complicated task," knows Audry van der Sanden, product manager SCL at Kiwa Netherlands. Even now that he has been working on safety for 24 years and with the Safety Culture Ladder (SCL) since 2013. "The SCL is a well thought-out measure to encourage people in the construction industry to consciously work safely. But how do you make them intrinsically motivated?"

Exemplary behavior

What is certain is that directors and managers of companies play a crucial role in this. They can write out a commitment and issue sanctions for violation, but the only thing that works is consistent exemplary behavior. "The manager who turns a blind eye to unsafe behavior - because the time pressure is so high anyway - communicates that his motivation is fake. Those who are intrinsically motivated take even late delivery for granted."

Wanting to keep an eye on each other

Recently, Van der Sanden certified a company for the highest step of the SCL. "Frankly, I didn't think this high certification was possible," he confesses. "Now I know it can be done. In this company, managers and employees stood for safety from daybreak to closing. It was a topic of conversation over coffee; people talked to each other about it and even involved the entire chain. Something like that only works within a progressive corporate culture. Incidentally, step 5 is also just a number. There is still room for improvement."

Tilting the atmosphere

It is precisely on that progressive aspect that the construction industry can get in its own way, Van der Sanden realizes. It is easier to score points here with conventional behavior. Then the key is to break through this. "For example, I then ask the question 'Who left this morning with the intention of working unsafely?' That turns out to be a way to tilt the atmosphere."

Just start

For Van der Sanden, the SCL is the way to reduce construction accidents. "Tie the knot. Come for an information session, get coached and start at a realistic step. Kiwa Netherlands has become big in construction and is among the initiators of the SCL. We know how it works."

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