Background
Beter Duurzaam is a sustainable energy installation company where technicians work at heights and at various locations every day. The organization wanted to elevate its safety standards and achieve level 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder. The foundation was in place, but there was a need to translate this into concrete behavior:
- How do we ensure that safety is the norm (rather than a point of discussion)?
- How do we ensure that safety is not just a policy, but is visible in the daily choices and actions of technicians, staff, and management?
Activities
Based on the requirements of the Safety Culture Ladder, I developed a multi-year approach, detailed in clear annual plans that the safety coordinators could implement. In 2023, the focus was on vision and mindset, and we laid the foundation:
- Together with the management team, we formulated a clear standard: safety is not a point of discussion, but a priority.
- In team and leadership sessions, I guided management and employees to work together on setting an example, holding each other accountable, and fostering intrinsic motivation.
- I translated safety into concrete and observable behavior. I helped the coordinators make these behavioral rules easily visible at various locations and throughout different stages of the process.
- I helped integrate safety into onboarding and performance reviews, and ensured the topic was structurally included in communication and customer interactions (how can the customer also contribute?).
- Employees were actively involved through H&S sessions and improvement meetings, ensuring that safety was not imposed from above but shaped together.
In 2024, the focus shifted to embedding and sustaining. I coached two new safety ambassadors in their roles and in maintaining the annual structure of the behavioral program. The goal? To ensure that working on safety is not a one-time action, but a habit. I also guided a specific behavioral program focused on reporting willingness, where even informal leaders who initially showed resistance took on a leading role and eventually made the most reports.
In 2026, a new phase begins in which I, together with behavioral expert Benthe Schuurman, will further strengthen the approach and roll it out within a now-merged organization, bringing new employees up to the same level in terms of safety.
Result
- Within Beter Duurzaam, safety has grown into a clear and shared norm. The discussion is no longer about whether something should be safe, but about how to organize it as effectively as possible. Employees know what is expected of them and hold each other accountable. Engagement with the topic has increased.
- Concrete behavioral change in practice. By encouraging specific, desired behaviors, we achieved real behavioral change on the work floor.
- Step 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder has been successfully achieved and maintained. During the audits, explicit appreciation was expressed for the behavior-oriented approach and its visible implementation in the workplace.
- Concrete framework for the safety program for the coming years. The designed behavioral program can be repeated and adjusted annually.
