Safety leadership is defined as the process of interaction

between leaders and followers, through which leaders can exert

their influence on followers to achieve organizational safety goals.
The feature of this definition that most often confuses people is
the concept of leaders and followers
 Successful leaders are prepared to set out in new
directions - to find new opportunities and different
ways to take things forward.
 Successful leaders begin with their people. They
build a shared vision, then together determine what
destination "success" should mean.
 Successful leaders find the new and look to the
future. They don't rest in the past.
How safety initiatives often look:
 Top level rhetoric about the importance of
safety in site value hierarchy (i.e. versus
production)

 Targeted training or “canned courses”

presented as a reward or incentive

 System implementation –
 Without attention to employee engagement!
 Not integral to job performance criteria
What happens
when you have
a safety
enforcement
environment
rather than a
safety culture?

Practically all “canned” safety programs put the Safety Manager,

And supervisors in the role of safety police!
 Time Line

Decline Phase
All organizational programs, safety initiatives, etc., Have a defined life span

Acceptance
And
Integration
Phase

Change Initiated

Initial Acceptance
Initial Resistance
 Time Line

Re-inventing / Re-Investing Team

A cross-functional team that develops

new ideas and or approaches Decline Phase
to existing problems and or identifying
elements which may be both known
and unknown to the organization

Acceptance
And
Integration Change initiative must occur
Phase Prior to the decline phase!
Why?
Because in the decline phase, the
Change Initiated Standard response is to “cut”
Spending and programs.

Initial Resistance
Initial Acceptance
 5% 10% 80% 5%

Percentage of Employee Engagement

Explorers Pioneers Homesteaders Resistors & Saboteurs
 Leadership is not:

Not Power -
•Power derives from status, money, ability to harm,
access to media or control materials
•A Thug who sticks a gun in you back has “power” but
not leadership
 Leadership is not:
Not Status -
•Status or position may enhance the opportunity for
leadership
•Some in a high status or position haven’t got a clue
how to lead
Not Authority –
• A person may have subordinates, but not followers
•People will only follow if a person acts as a leader
 Leadership is not:

Not Management -
•Management is an organizational skill
•Managers preside over procesesses, functions and
program
The leadership role, more than any other
function, shapes and influences the culture
that produces performance outcomes
Impact of Leadership
Excellent safety performance is about getting the right
behaviour from people.
•Although necessary, it is not about systems and procedures.

As a leader, you have a tremendous impact in the field by what you:

 Say
 Do
 Don’t say or don’t do
Visible Leadership
Primary Key for achieving Safety Success:

SAFETY
LEADERSHIP
=
VISIBLE
COMMITMENT
 Fatality

Lost Workday
Consequences
Recordable Injury

First Aid Case

Near Mishap Property

Damage

Cause Choice

Factors That Knowledge Desire Ability

Influence Choice

Health & Safety

System
Elements

• Nothing we do is worth getting hurt • Every injury could and should

• Safety can and must be managed have been prevented
Values • Working safely is a condition of • Safety is everyone’s responsibility
employment
 IDENTIFY
all
Loss Exposures

EVALUATE
the Risks

TERMINATE TREAT TOLERATE TRANSFER

Eliminate the Safety and Loss Acceptable Insurance
Exposure Control Activities Level of Risks Non-insurance

IMPLEMENT

MONITOR
 Committed leadership
 Employee driven
 Basics done well
 Focus on greatest potential improvements
 Recognize and manage risks
 Benchmark leadership behaviors
 Expected leadership actions and behaviors
 Leadership roles, responsibilities and
relationships
 Inspecting the progress of your health and
safety efforts
 Educating leaders in effective health and safety
management
 Conducting on-site leadership audits
 Begin all meetings with safety
 Plug yourself into the management process
 Review serious incident reports
 Conduct safety audits / inspections
 Fund safety commensurate with its importance
 Monitor lagging / intermediate / leading
performance indicators
 Assure Your Direct Reports are getting the job
done
 Safety holds a 20% weighting in PMP
 Safety discussed in all team meetings and
conference calls
 Quality review of all level 1 and 2 incidents
 Quarterly safety audits / inspections
 Withhold capital if safety is poor
 Sponsor safety benchmarking exercise
 Travel to site of serious incidents
 2–4 hours per week on the floor
 Attend / lead crew talks
 Celebrate production records only if safety is
good
 Sponsor / kick off “safety focus” initiatives
 Orient new hires in safety policy, principles
and values
 Never walk by a hazard
 Ask if this is a safe and convenient time
 Open on a personal note
 Explain what you are doing
 Recognize positives
 Ask what the major hazards are
 Are hazard controls in place / working well
 Communicate observed opportunities
 Coach substandard actions if necessary
 Close on a positive note
Your Role as a Leader
• Excellent performance requires your leadership
• As a leader you should know:
 how our safety programs work and your role in them
 the importance of leadership in getting the right behaviours
Leading in the Field
• ‘Walk the talk’
• Demonstrate your commitment with visible actions
• Follow-through with actions
• Never turn a blind eye
• Hold others accountable
Fair
Be Firm
Consistent
Your Job as a Safety Leader is to…
• Explain the HSE process to employees
• Provide effective feedback
• INTERVENE: NEVER walk past an unsafe act or
condition. To do so is to approve or condone the activity
or condition
• Seek to understand WHY the situation or behaviour was
that way
And so correct the problem, not treat the symptom
At-Risk Behaviour
If you see someone taking a risk, you are authorised to:
Stop the job
Talk to them
Explain the risk
Explain the safe way
If you are ignored & they continue to take the risk,

Report it
Personalise your leadership…
Use words like
I need you to…
My expectations are…
I want you to...
Not
The Client want you to…
WHS Advisor requires…
My boss wants…
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
• Lead by example
• Employees will subconsciously follow your actions

They always pick up the bad habits first!

• Show them the way
• Nominate individuals and teams for awards and certificates
Recognition
• Give plenty of verbal recognition to individuals and teams for
jobs well done

Let individuals and team known when you observe

their safe behaviour
Use pre-start safety talks to provide feedback
• Catch your team doing the right thing!!
 Inspire Others to Behave
Safely

Leadership Ongoing Journey

Personal Transformational
Approach
(Consultation/Mutual Respect)

Discover and
share other Why we are
Raised ways of here today
Awareness operating
Build Relationships

(Conversation)
System
Procedures Compliance
Policies Licence to Operate
Forms
Transactional - Tasks
(Talk at and Tell)
 Understanding Peoples Behaviour
ABC Model

Activator Behaviour
Events that precede behaviour Things people say and their
and prompt it. actions Consequences
Have 20% impact impact on
Behaviour determines Events that follow behaviour
behaviour
performance Have 80% influence on whether
E.g. Training, personal beliefs,
behaviour occurs again
behaviour of others, past
experience, requested to do
something
Understanding Peoples Behaviour

 Majority of all incidents are caused by people behaving

in unsafe ways
 Understanding employee behaviour is fundamental to
the success of creating a safe workplace
 Premise of model is that all Behaviour (B) is a function
of its immediate environment.
 Factors such as Activators (A) and Consequences (C) of
each behaviour trigger and sustain it
ABC Model
 Activator – Aspect of the environment,
precedes and influences behaviour
 Eg – Others are doing it or The right tool/plant not available
 Behaviour – Something you can see,
every day – every task – Its either safe or
unsafe
 Consequence – Every behaviour is
followed by a series of consequences
How we reward Unsafe Behaviours

How we punish safe behaviour indirectly

Key Message
ABC Model is a cultural change tool
Moves culture from one that inadvertently encourages
unsafe behaviour and punishes safe behaviour
To one that increases positive behaviour through
reinforcement
Psychology of Influencing Others
 The part of the brain
that determines what
we are going to pay
attention to
Reticular  You can program
your RAS
Activating System  You can program
other peoples RAS
(RAS)  Influencing
Positively with RAS
questions
Leading an Effective Toolbox
Talk/Pre-Start Meeting
• Target

• Engage

• Ask Questions

• Mutually Agree
REMEMBER

YOU are responsible for safety

YOU are the KEY to safety

Summary of Safety
Leadership Attributes

Recognise Participate & Inspire &

and Reward Communicate Motivate

Safety Leaders Safety

Improvement
Lead Provide Show
by Example Resources Concern

Role Model Build Trust

 Develop change and
improvement momentum by
building around the champions
who are most likely to make the
effort succeed.
 They will help to bring the
others on board.
 They are also the ones you and
everyone else can learn the most
from.
Don't automatically
label resistance to
change as negative
and something to be
overcome or beaten
back.
The real enemy of
organizational change,
is apathy.
"Just tell me what you
want done, boss, so I can
get out of this place and
on with my real life"
is the attitude that kills
change.
 Resistors often have
strong passion and
high energy. They
resist because they
care. Understand the
roots of their resistance
and re-channel it.
 Get them inside the
circle of wagons,
shooting out.
Employee input is especially valuable during:

• Risk analysis
• Developing policies and interventions
• Providing pertinent observations during training and implementation
 Three Levels of Culture
Artifacts Visual organizational structures
and processed ( hard to
decipher)

Strategies, goals, philosophies

Espoused Values (espouses justifications)

Basic Underlying Assumptions

Unconscious, taken for granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts and feelings (ultimate source
of values and actions)
How then to create an enduring, positive safety culture?

•Requires a “whole of system” approach

•Requires changes to individual behavior and also

those factors that influence and sustain individual behavior

•Requires total engagement of every manager and

front-line supervisor!
 Begins with hiring procedures
 Established through an engaging employee
orientation program
 Style and effectiveness of safety meetings
 Style and effectiveness of safety training
 Quality and focus of inspections
 Rules and policies that are consistent and fair
 Quality of safety equipment
 Safety techniques and procedures
People don’t respect what you don’t inspect!
 Think Safety All The Time
Even if you were born to do a job, it doesn't
necessarily mean that you're going to
automatically do it safely....Remember that no
matter how many times you've done a job
before, be sure to think the whole thing
through before you start. You've carefully
thought out all the angles. You've done it a
thousand times. It comes naturally to you. You
know what you're doing, it's what you've been
trained to do your whole life. Nothing could
possibly go wrong, right? ? ? Think again...
 Do you have a written Safety & Health
Program for your employees?
 Do you train all employees in all aspects of
your Safety & Health Plan?
 Do you unilaterally enforce the provisions of
your Safety & Health Program?
 With hourly and salaried alike?
 You need to make sure that all training is
consistent
 Make sure that all employees are trained to
the same specified minimum standards
 You know that training is at least adequate
 Your employees know what to expect of
you…and you know what to expect of them
 It will save you TIME and MONEY!
 Never allow the “old timers” to influence
newer workers with shortcuts, unsafe acts,
bad safety attitudes etc.
 Cause each employee to WANT to go home
safe…happy employees are effective
employees
 Reward employees when you “catch” them
doing their job right
 Doesn’t have to be money or gifts (bribes)
 Are your top supervisors and managers (or
you, the owner) committed to safety?
 REALLY COMMITTED?
 Do your employees follow your safety
guidelines?
 ALWAYS?
 What happens when someone in your employ
does not comply with the safety program?
 DO YOU HAVE A DISCIPLINARY PROGRAM?
 WHAT DOES YOUR DISCIPLINARY PROGRAM
LOOK LIKE?
 DO YOU USE IT WHENEVER NECESSARY?
 Examination of working places
 Performed by “competent person”
 Before employees go to work
 Immediately correct any problems encountered
 Record all examinations & hazards
 Record all corrections to observed/recorded
hazards
 Keep records on file for at least one year
 If you have a hazard in your workplace
 If you allow a violation to continue to exist,
it will eventually hurt someone
 Look at all near misses, determine causes,
eliminate problems BEFORE they injure or
kill someone or damage your equipment
 If we eliminate Near Misses from occurring,
accidents will be reduced
 Does your Safety & Health Program
Eliminate Confusion?

Are your intentions and desires

regarding work practices clear?
 Encourage open communications regarding
safety and health issues
 When employees are confident you’ll listen,
they’ll tell you what is wrong! And help you fix
it!
 Never punish an employee for reporting a “Near
Miss”
 Use the “Learning Cycle” rather than the “Blame
Cycle”
 How can WE fix this problem (learning)? vs. why did
YOU mess up (blame)?
 When employees ask honest questions, give them
honest, real answers!
 “Walk your Walk…Talk your Talk”
 When you require employees & contractors
to wear PPE in a specific work area, make
sure you also wear the same (required) PPE
 Safety rules MUST be enforced unilaterally
with out regard to the individual
 When you require your employees to wear
seatbelts on the job, make sure they never
catch you without yours in use!
 Keep safety in mind at all times & meet
frequently
 Discuss infrequent or unusual jobs before
doing them (special meetings, if necessary)
 Confirm & reinforce existing Safety and
Health Policy
 Present and discuss new or proposed new
safety and health policy
 Update employees on new health & safety
regulations