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How to Build a Safety-Driven Culture
Safety goes beyond compliance. When employees stay engaged, recognize hazards, and look out for one another, safety becomes part of the culture.
• Proactive: Identify hazards before they become incidents. • Preventative: Use coaching, training, and corrective action to reduce risk. • Predictive: Use data to focus attention where it is needed most. These principles provide a consistent foundation, but safety cannot be managed with a one-size-fits-all approach. One Size Doesn’t Fit All Every operation is different. That is why the four BBS principles can look different from site to site, but are centered around the same foundation. Before new processes or solutions are introduced, Job Hazard Analyses (JHAs) should be performed to identify potential hazards and determine the appropriate controls. Those findings help shape the training teams receive and ensure that safety practices reflect the realities of the work. These practices are reinforced through a combination of in-person instruction, digital tools, and pre-shift meetings that connect training directly to the work happening that day. Safety as a Culture Safety goes beyond compliance. When employees stay engaged, recognize hazards, and look out for one another, safety becomes more than a process to follow. It becomes part of the culture. Across its North American operations, NFI brings together trained teams, rigorous JHAs, and a BBS culture to establish a consistent safety standard. When safety is built into the culture, not simply added to the checklist, it becomes part of every shipment, every facility, and every step along the way.
chemical segregation and containment. Depending on the products and how they are shipped, additional requirements under federal laws apply, including completing the appropriate paperwork, separating incompatible products, affixing the required labels and placards to outbound shipments, and following protocols for damages. But knowing the rules is only the beginning. When employees are trained and certified on the hazards in their work environment, they are better equipped to recognize risks, look out for one another, and protect the shipments in their care. That shared training and awareness is where a safety-driven culture begins.
By Guy Toksoy Managing Director, Canada NFI nfiindustries.com
W hen people hear the terms Hazardous Materials (hazmat) in the United States or Dangerous Goods (DG) in Canada, they may picture toxic chemicals or inherently dangerous products. But hazardous materials are not always as obvious as they seem. Everyday products—including kitchen cleaners, aerosols, paints, Li-ion batteries, and certain cosmetics and perfumes— can be classified as hazmat or dangerous goods. For 3PLs serving B2C or B2B channels, that means safety must be built into every step of the process. The people who receive, store, handle, and ship these products need the right training to do their jobs safely and confidently. Awareness Is Your First Line of Defense Safe handling begins with understanding the hazards associated with a product at every stage of the process and knowing what precautions are needed to protect people, property, and the environment. U.S. and Canadian transportation regulations recognize nine hazard classes, which may be identified on a product’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS). These classifications, along with local and federal guidelines, help determine where goods can be stored and in what quantities. They can also dictate whether products require specialized fire suppression, blast protection, or
Turn Observation Into Action The strongest safety improvements come from paying attention to what is happening on the job and creating an environment where people can have honest conversations about it. That is the foundation of a Behavior- Based Safety (BBS) approach: recognizing safe work, learning from “Good Catches,” and addressing opportunities for improvement before they become incidents. At NFI, that culture is built around four guiding principles: • Positive: Recognize, celebrate, and reinforce safe behaviors.
20 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
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