RoadTek
Safety Leadership
Objectives:
•Explore and share ideas about some basic concepts of
Leadership and how they can be applied in WH&S
•Begin development of your own safety leadership
improvement strategy
Leadership – What is it?
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
You do not lead by hitting people over the head…
that’s assault, not leadership
Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower
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
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
Be
Fair
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!!
Safety Leadership Journey
Inspire Others to Behave
Safely
Leadership
Ongoing Journey
Personal
Approach
Transformational
(Consultation/Mutual Respect)
Raised
Awareness
Discover and
share other
ways of
operating
Why we are
here today
Build Relationships
(Conversation)
System
Procedures
Policies
Forms
Compliance
Licence to Operate
Transactional - Tasks
(Talk at and Tell)
Practical Tools To Apply Leadership
Understanding Peoples Behaviour
ABC Model
Activator
Behaviour
Events that precede behaviour
and prompt it.
Things people say and their
actions
Have 20% impact impact on
behaviour
Behaviour determines
performance
E.g. Training, personal beliefs,
behaviour of others, past
experience, requested to do
something
Consequences
Events that follow behaviour
Have 80% influence on whether
behaviour occurs again
Understanding Peoples Behaviour
Principles of ABC
•
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
ABC Model - Examples
•
Someone is speeding in the workplace
•
Why are they speeding? – Thrill, Late for work,
emergency, attitude, nice road to speed
•
Ended up as – crash, caught by Police, someone else
ran off the road
• Activity - Work out the ABC!
• Activity – Think of Some others
• As a Leader – Ask the questions
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
Reticular
Activating System
(RAS)
•
The part of the brain that
determines what we are
going to pay attention to
•
You can program your
RAS
•
You can program other
peoples RAS
•
Influencing Positively
with RAS questions
Influencing Positively
RAS Questions •
What might happen if you fall?
•
What impact does it have for others if they see you doing it
that way?
•
Have you thought about the consequences?
•
How can you improve on that?
•
Activity - Can you think of Others?
Consult and Communicate
• Intent
• Look & Observe
• Engage
• Ask Questions
• Discuss
Consequences
Leading an Effective Toolbox
Talk/Pre-Start Meeting
• Target
• Engage
• Ask Questions
• Mutually Agree
In Short…
• You are the key to high performance. Your job as a
Leader is as much about SAFETY as it as about
productivity
• Know and understand the expectations and systems
• Ask for support whenever needed… demand it!
• If in doubt, STOP THE WORK
• Document your efforts
REMEMBER
YOU are responsible for safety
YOU are the KEY to safety
Safety Leadership
Commitment Statement
What is it?
•One page written statement
•Personal commitment made to your health & safety
•Commitment to what you will or will not do
•Share your commitment with you collogues by posting in visible
location i.e. office door, work station etc
Why?
•Create a “total safety culture”
•Next step towards achieving the our goal of “Zero Harm”
At work – on the roads – in the home!
SAFETY LEADERSHIP
Commitment Statement
At work – on the roads – in the home!
I will:
 Intervene if I observe at-risk behaviours
 Lead by example and “walk the talk”
 Provide recognition to individuals of teams when safe behaviours are
observed
Any questions?
 Only talk on a hands free mobile when driving
 Adopt the principles safety as a whole of life value
I will not:
 Be a risk taker instead a risk manager
 Ignore people that are at-risk of injury without taking action
 Walk past a hazard without talking action: fix it, make it safe, report it
 Condone the taking of “short cuts” that defeats approved safe work
practices
 Drive recklessly and in doing so place myself or others at-risk
Name:
Position:
Stephen Pooler
Senior WHS
Advisor
Signature:
Date:
13 Jun 2008
Your turn…
Summary of Safety
Leadership Attributes
Recognise
and Reward
Participate &
Communicate
Inspire &
Motivate
Safety Leaders
Lead
by Example
Provide
Resources
Role Model
Build Trust
Show
Concern
Safety
Improvement
Your attention and participation
was appreciated