Prescription for Excellence: Leadership Lessons for Creating a World Class Customer Experience from UCLA Health System EBOOK

CHAPTER 5Safety—Science, Selection, and Challenge

For safety is not a gadget but a state of mind.

—ELEANOR EVERET

Here’s a one-item quiz for everyone in your organization: “Who is responsible for safety?” Of course, the right answer is “me.” Unfortunately, quite often the answers you’ll hear will involve a person whose title has the word safety in it. At UCLA, Erik Eggins is an individual who fits that description, given that his name badge reads “Director of Safety.” Erik notes that a healthy safety culture is reflected by the commitment to safety demonstrated by each individual in the organization every day. “I appreciate that at UCLA we actually talk about safety in the context of culture, and as such we have encouraged all staff to take an ...