The days of a true "safety culture" I am sad to say have gone the way of the "man in the gray flannel suit."

According to the results of the American Society of Safety Engineers 100th Anniversary Essay Contest, the greatest challenge facing the environmental health and safety profession in the 21st century is communication.

It seems that no matter what we read or hear these days, the word “culture” is present. 

Last month I introduced you to Scott A. Snook’s term practical drift, which he coined in his root cause analysis of the accidental shoot down of two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters resulting in the loss of 26 peacekeepers. 

The first-shift guys tell you they work together as a team. They are the best shift in every way. And they always clean up and set up for second shift.

Colonel Scott A. Snook, Ph.D., in Friendly Fire1 introduced the term practical drift. The theory of practical drift emerged from Snook’s root cause analysis of a 1994 friendly fire accident in which two U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle fighter jets patrolling the No-Fly-Zone over northern Iraq shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk UH-60 helicopters. Twenty-six peacekeepers lost their lives.

When folks are brought together around some common task or set of tasks, their earliest experiences “set the tone” for the team. When team members develop the positive attitude that they can succeed, they are more likely to do so.