Page 68 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

54 Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

also what holds them together and allows them to be sustained. Cultures can be exam-
ined at any scope, like that of an entire nation or people (e.g., Mayan culture; Japanese
culture), or subcultures residing within larger cultures, whether generalized or specific
(e.g., New York culture; trucker culture; nerd culture; classroom culture; club culture).
Cultures are present wherever social interaction takes place with regularity, even
among small groups. For instance, at an industrial operation, the subculture among
front-line workers in a particular department or area, who spend much of their
on-the-job time together, is likely different in many ways from cultural standards
and norms exhibited among upper management. It is likely also different in some ways
from that of front-line workers indifferent departments of thesame company, as long as
there is little interaction between these groups.
Regardless of the scope or societal stratum of a particular culture, its norms were
likely established intrinsically and organically, albeit shaped by cultural forebears or
the larger culture in which it resides. For example, the subculture among a team or
department in an organization would be influenced by official operational procedures,
and the language used would incorporate the jargon relevant to the industry and task.
The interaction between group members would also be dictated by norms of the
greater culture of their geographic location as well as their ethnicities. But unique
social markers would define the subculture, too, like inside jokes, nicknames, com-
mon themes of conversation, slang, and even light-hearted ritual behaviors that arise
from familiarity and a sense of fraternity among the work group. Such specific and
esoteric things would not likely translate easily to management, or sometimes even
across different work groups in the same organization.
The collective attitudes and behaviors among all personnel toward workplace
safety is an inherent aspect of cultures and subcultures in a safety-sensitive workplace
like a mine site. The concept of “safety culture” has been gaining momentum and
become more commonplace in safety-sensitive industries as the impact that behaviors
and attitudes among all personnel have on safety has become more visible and under-
stood. The benefits of a positive safety culture—improved safety performance, pro-
duction, reputation, and so on—are also becoming more widely known. Workplace
safety expert E. Scott Dunlap puts it plainly: “Efforts in safety and productivity are
not mutually exclusive. Development of a safety culture through an emphasis on
protecting employees has positive consequences on business growth” [1].
Because noncompliance to safety regulations, whether in the aftermath of an acci-
dent or discovered during an inspection, is met with citations and fines, there are many
examples of safety systems that handle risky or unsafe behavior with serious repri-
mand, which mirrors the punitive nature of citations and fines. Furthermore, it is
not uncommon for safety training refreshers to be thought of as punishment—by both
employees and management—following an incident.
Rosa Antonio Carrillo’s article on communication and safety culture opens with an
example:

“Bob…barely escaped with his life when an electrical arc burned the hair off his right
arm and temporarily stunned him after he plugged in a piece of electrical equipment.
No onecame forwardto admittheyhad failedto tag theelectricaloutletas faultybecause
they knew it would mean days off without pay at best and dismissal at worst” [2].