Safety Culture Starts with Speaking Up

At Allied Resources Group, safety is more than a policy or checklist. It is a shared responsibility built through communication, preparation and continuous learning.

During a recent ARG Safety Committee meeting, team members discussed how safety culture continues to grow across the organization, especially when employees feel comfortable sharing concerns, asking questions and bringing forward lessons learned from the field.

A key theme from the discussion was the importance of near-miss reporting. Near misses, sometimes referred to as close calls, may not result in an injury or damage, but they can provide valuable insight into conditions, processes or communication gaps that should be reviewed before a more serious incident occurs.

“Near misses are an opportunity to prevent an incident from happening in the future,” said Lori Reising, EHS Manager, during the meeting. “That is why it is so important that we hear about them and understand what happened, so we can look for ways to improve.”

Reporting near misses also creates an opportunity to recognize when an incident was prevented because someone made a good decision in the field. Those moments deserve to be shared as well, providing valuable learning opportunities that can help others identify hazards, make informed decisions and reinforce safe work practices.

That mindset reflects a broader safety principle: reporting is not about blame. It is about learning. When employees know their input will be welcomed and acted on, they are more likely to speak up. The committee discussed how trust, timely follow-up and clear communication all play a role in building that kind of environment.

The group also talked about the role of Job Safety Analyses, Health and Safety Plans, site-specific emergency procedures and safety moments in keeping safety top of mind before work begins. For employees who are frequently in the field, toolbox talks and daily planning often create regular safety touchpoints. For those who visit project sites less often, the committee recognized the importance of keeping safety visible through meeting reminders, newsletters and short, practical conversations.

“One minute can be enough to get people thinking about safety before the work begins,” one committee member noted during the discussion.

Another important theme was root-cause analysis. When an incident, near miss or safety concern is reviewed, the goal is to understand the conditions that contributed to it. That may include communication, training, planning, procedures, fatigue, environmental conditions or other factors. By looking beyond the surface, teams can identify meaningful improvements and share lessons learned across the organization.

The committee also discussed the hierarchy of controls, a widely recognized safety framework used to evaluate ways to reduce risk. Rather than relying on personal protective equipment alone, teams are encouraged to think through every available way to control a hazard. The focus is on preventing incidents by eliminating hazards whenever possible and applying engineering controls, substitution, and administrative controls with PPE as the final layer of protection.

For ARG, the “why” behind these conversations is simple: safety culture depends on participation. It depends on employees feeling empowered to ask questions, raise concerns, share lessons learned and recognize the good decisions that prevent incidents before they happen.

As ARG’s Safety Committee continues its work, the focus remains on creating practical, consistent ways to communicate safety expectations, support field and office teams, and turn everyday conversations into opportunities for improvement.

Because a strong safety culture is not built in one meeting. It is built every time someone speaks up, shares a lesson learned, recognizes a good catch or thoughtful decision, or takes a moment to think through the work before it begins.