By Mike Johnson
Research clearly demonstrates that observable safety leadership actions are more important to improving safety performance than anything else leaders do. Safety leadership is developed through the day-to-day interactions between leaders and front-line employees.
Those interactions create the context for a relationship, and that relationship communicates the company’s values. Leadership interactions that promote safety as Value #1 are created by practices that engage employees in safety, whether in a behavior-based or traditional safety environment. The relationship with employees often determines the effectiveness of leadership practices. The Visible Safety Leadership Training workshop will explore and illustrate some of the behavioral practices that both impact relationships and build support as well as participation in safety.
We have found that in many organizations, management’s role in safety has been poorly defined. It is most typically described in vague terms such as “making safety a priority” or “creating a safety culture.” But what does that mean? What should a manager do today and tomorrow to ensure a safe work environment? What can a manager do to help create a culture that truly embraces safety?
We offer a one-day, on-site workshop that outlines ways that leaders (supervisors, managers, and executives) can make a positive impact on safety by engaging their front-line employees in a dialogue about safety and practicing behaviors that visibly show leadership’s interest and support of safety:
Learn interactive methods that demonstrate leader involvement:
• Create a strong safety culture and behavior change through direct observation and employee dialog.
• Strengthen positive peer support for safe behavior.
• Initiate on-the-job discussions that create employee engagement and safety as a core value.
In addition to helping employees meet safety observation goals, doing Leadership Safety Observations results in a number of non-safety related benefits:
• Improvement in management/employee communications and trust
• Increased employee engagement through a formal process for employee/leaders discussions, problem identification, and problem-solving
• Improvement in morale, productivity, and employee contribution
• Discovery of non-safety related improvements in process, procedures, and/or conditions
In this workshop, leaders will learn how to use a simple behavioral checklist to focus their attention on the safety practices that the employee is exhibiting and then how to discuss those safe acts (and any other concerns) with the employee in a positive way. Participants will practice these skills with each other using work sample videos, conduct actual Safety Observations and Conversations, and provide feedback in the workplace. Supporting means more than simply starting a meeting with a safety moment or asking if anyone got hurt last week; Visible Safety Leadership is attained by weaving safety support behaviors into the normal routine. The workshop participants will perform self-assessments, share best practices, and develop personal action plans to habituate desired behaviors. They will learn how to pinpoint descriptions of desired behavior, how to better understand why people do what they do, and how to ask positive questions.
The Bottom Line: The purpose of this one-day workshop is to demonstrate how managers and supervisors can better support your safety process; specifically, how to interact with the workforce with a safety dialog that reinforces your safety objectives without alienating that workforce. Strong leaders are critical for sustained injury and fatality prevention at all organizational levels. Through what they do and what they choose to focus on, leaders shape the culture that drives performance, and influences the systems and processes that create safety outcomes. The result is world-class safety performance that drives operational excellence.
What needs does this training meet?
Typically, leaders tend to rely on in-house safety professionals to spearhead any safety initiatives or projects. This can lead to a disconnect for the employees who look to their leaders for indications of what is important in the “organization’s culture.” Leaders often don’t have time for extended conversations with employees, and when they do, their discussions tend to be punitive in nature because the leader is trying to “correct” the behavior of the employee.
What will you learn?
You will learn why employees make decisions that put themselves and others at risk. In addition you will learn hands-on skills for observing employees working, for example: how to give safety feedback in a way that the employee finds positive and constructive; how to foster a safety dialogue; and how to support the organization’s safety processes by developing personal action plans to implement and support these efforts on a daily basis.
Who should attend this workshop?
VPs, Safety Mgrs., HR Mgrs., General and Plant Mgrs., Operations Mgrs./Supervisors, Risk Mgrs, HSE Mgrs., Maintenance Engineers, Shift Mgrs. and Supervisors—essentially any manager that has influence over others can benefit from this training.
These Visible Safety Leadership Training workshops are conducted at your facility and we recommend no more than 20 attendees per workshop, since the workshop is interactive. The fee for this one-day workshop is $3,000 US plus travel and expenses.
We introduce this Visible Safety Leadership Training workshop via free, online monthly webinars. If you would like some additional information regarding the Visible Safety Leadership Training workshop or if you would like to reserve a slot in one of our monthly introductory webinars, please call 713-807-1483.