Management Leadership in Occupational Safety and
Health
Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2012-13
Name and title of speaker
Date | Event title
Safety and health at work is everyone’s concern. It’s good for you. It’s good for business.
Scale of the problem
Why is safety and health important?
• Good for business, workers and for society as a whole
• Every year more than 5,500 people lose their lives due to workplace
accidents
• 159,000 die as a result of work-related illnesses (ILO estimate)
• € 490 billion cost to the EU economy
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Scale of the problem
Most occupational accidents and illnesses are preventable
• 1999–2007 the EU15 improved workplace safety (fatalities down from
5,275 to 3,782 and non-fatal accidents down by 900,000)
• 2007–2012 Community strategy targets a further 25% reduction
• This campaign aims to build on this success
BUT
• We need to continue making prevention efforts, because
hard-won gains can easily be lost if we ‘relax’
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Benefits of good safety and health
• Reduced risks and costs
− less sick leave and staff turnover
− fewer accidents
− lower insurance costs
• Rise in productivity
• Reduced threat of legal action
• Better reputation among customers, suppliers and investors
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Prevention is better than cure
Prevention is the cornerstone of Europe’s approach to managing
risks
• Reduced risks
• Evaluating risks
• Combating risks at source
• Giving appropriate instructions to workers
• Adapting workplace design and equipment to workers
• Adapting to technical progress
• Putting in place a coherent overall prevention policy
• Prioritising protective measures for the whole workforce over those for
individuals
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The role of the management
Underlying management for enhancing safety and health
• Effective and strong leadership
• Active worker involvement
• Ongoing assessment and review
• Leadership goes hand in hand with participation
• Without good leadership, participation will not succeed
• Management is responsible for the prerequisite to establish partnership
and participation
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First management principle: Leadership and safety and
health (1)
Effective and strong leadership in safety and health is vital. This
means that management:
• Commits itself to OSH as a core value of the organisation
• Has an accurate picture of the organisation’s risk profile
• Leads by example and demonstrates integrity
• Clearly defines and monitors roles and responsibilities
• Prioritises OSH in the company’s sustainability strategy and throughout
the supply chain
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Leadership and safety and health (2)
Practical examples of OSH leadership include:
• Visiting workstations to consult staff about health and safety (workers
may not only identify problems but may provide solutions too)
• Taking personal responsibility and showing that you care
• Leading by example
• Making available, as far as possible, money and time
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Good practice example (1)
Oil refinery, Belgium
• The Total oil refinery in Antwerp brought in the contractors SPIE
Belgium
• This resulted in a clash of business and safety cultures that had to be
sorted out
• The companies resolved key organisational differences and then
focused on employee behaviour on the shop floor
• Corporate cultures were aligned by means of intense, though largely
informal, consultation
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Good practice example (2)
• The improvement resulted in zero accidents once Total and SPIE had
agreed on “best practices”
Success factors
• Participation and skill of senior management
• Open communication
• Active involvement of employees
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Second management principle: Active worker
involvement (1)
• The employer is responsible for managing work-related risks, but EU
law says that employers must consult their workers about health and
safety
• Some employers go beyond this legal obligation to create a real twoway communication process in which workers take part in health and
safety decision-making
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Active worker involvement (2)
• This creates a culture where relationships between employers and
workers are based on collaboration, trust and joint problem-solving
BUT
• Direct worker participation should not be seen as an alternative to a
system of workers’ representatives
• They can both be used effectively, in line with national frameworks and
the specific characteristics of the workplace
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Active worker involvement (3)
Employee input is especially valuable during:
• Risk analysis
• Developing policies and interventions
• Providing pertinent observations during training and implementation
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Active worker involvement (4)
Benefits of active worker involvement include:
• Lower accident rates
• Cost-effective solutions
• A happier and more productive workforce
• Greater awareness and control of workplace risks
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Third management principle: Ongoing assessment and
review (1)
• Monitoring and reporting are vital tools for enhancing workplace safety
and health
• They can provide the company board with specific (e.g. incident-led)
and routine reports on OSH performance
• This can be useful in raising issues, highlighting problems and
ultimately enhancing safety and health
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Third management principle: Ongoing assessment and
review (2)
A good assessment and review system should include:
• Procedures to report major health and safety failures to board
members and company owners as soon as possible
• Systems to capture and report data such as accident and sickness
rates
• Arrangements to incorporate worker views and experiences
• We help create safer and healthier workplaces for everyone’s benefit –
but we cannot do this by ourselves
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Network-based campaigning
Core strength: national focal points and tripartite networks
But also … engage other stakeholders/partners
• Official campaign partners (Pan-European and international
organisations) including social partners, NGOs, sectoral federations
and networks, private companies
• EU institutions including European Commission, EU Parliament, EU
representations,
EU agencies, Enterprise Europe Network
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How to get involved?
The campaign is open to all individuals and organisations. You can
get involved by:
• Disseminating campaign information and materials
• Joining in with one of the many events, conferences, competitions,
advertising campaigns – taking place during the campaign
• Organising your own activities
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Campaign partnership offer
Pan-European organisations can also apply to be campaign
partners. The Agency offers:
• Partner certificate
• Welcome pack
• Promotion at EU level and in the media
• Online Communication Platform
• Partner web section
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European Good Practice Awards
• Recognise outstanding and innovative contributions
• Encourage managers and workers to work together
• Enhance workplace safety and health
• EU Member States, EEA, Western Balkans and Turkey
• Two categories:
 Workplaces employing fewer than 100 people
 Those with 100 or more workers
• Winners chosen from entries submitted by national focal points
http://osha.europa.eu/en/about/competitions
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Resources
• Campaign guide
• Practical guides for workers and managers
• Good practice examples
• News about campaign events
• Presentations and animated video clips
• All available in 24 languages
www.healthy-workplaces.eu
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Key dates
• Campaign launch
18 April 2012
• European Weeks for
Safety and Health at Work
October 2012 and 2013
• Good Practice Awards Ceremony
April 2013
• Healthy Workplaces Summit
November 2013
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Further information
• Visit the campaign website
www.healthy-workplaces.eu
• To find out about events and activities in your country, contact your
national focal point
www.healthy-workplaces.eu/fops
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