Building a Safety First Culture: Reducing Injury Rates through COR/OSSE
In 2022, Regency Fireplace Products faced significant safety and cultural challenges. High lost time injury rates and incidents, and low morale. Employees said they felt they were expendable, and safety was not a priority. Incidents and injuries were just accepted as part of their workplace culture.
“When I joined Regency Fireplace in 2023, it was a company with one of the worst safety records in our classification unit (CU),” says James Rai. “To me, it was inconceivable that two people were getting injured every week and going off work.” With Regency recording 24 to 26 lost time incidents per year, Swedish parent company NIBE insisted they needed to see a change. NIBE expects all their companies to reach high levels of environmental, quality, and safety compliance.
By July 2024, this employer of 300 had achieved COR/OSSE certification and reduced lost time incidents to fewer than 6 per year.
Changing culture takes leadership commitment
By the end of 2023, Rai had a new leadership team in place, with a mandate of improving safety performance. Starting with a three-year strategic plan that addressed the challenges of changing workplace culture, accountability to workers, and injury rates, these senior leaders worked hard to insert safety into the fabric of the company.
“Leadership was fighting for safety,” explains Rai, “where before maybe leadership was fighting for production over all.” The leadership team was committed to building a “Safety First” culture. Through leadership coaching and training, regular plant safety walks, and participating in toolbox talks, they influenced directors, managers, and supervisors to also prioritize safety. And slowly the culture of the company changed. Today, employees see safety as a real priority and not just a slogan.
"We have long tenured people working here—35 plus years. And for them to change in such a short amount of time, I’m impressed."
How they started
The COR/OSSE certification framework showed Rai where to begin. It helped determine which people needed what training, introduced a methodology to verify safety knowledge, and introduced a process to get everyone trained.
“The actual implementation is most of the work,” shares Rai. “You can have a manual on the shelf and that might meet your COR/OSSE certification, but it doesn’t really help you with safety.”
Over time, as safety awareness and understanding grew among the workers, as leadership steadily included safety goals into production discussions, the ethos at Regency Fireplace Products shifted, with safety now embedded into the culture.
Some Regency employees celebrated their 15th year work anniversary this past year, and others their 35th and 40th. “For them to change in such a short amount of time, I’m impressed,” says Rai of the workers, noting that the team has embraced change and trusted the journey towards building a safer workplace for all.
In 2025, Regency Fireplace Products received the Topaz and Sapphire Pinnacle Awards for their continual commitment to safety.
