Leadership plays a key role in establishing an organization's health, safety, and environmental culture. If leaders do not follow safety rules themselves, employees will be less likely to see the value in following rules. For example, if a manager is seen walking down stairs without using the handrail as required, it undermines the safety culture and sends a message that rules are not that important. The HSE manager should privately discuss unsafe behaviors with leaders and get a commitment to lead by positive example in the future. Visible leadership participation in safety, such as attending meetings, is critical to reinforce the safety culture for all employees.

1. MANAGING
ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH
AND SAFETY RISKS
Creating Sustainable Solutions For Our Environment, People, Clients and Patients
Topic: HSE Leadership & Accountability
Author: John Landis, Global Director, HSE Learning & Development
One of the most common questions HSE Managers ask is “How do I get employees to actively
participate in our HSE program?” The answer should be that each employee is vested in their
own safety and should follow rules and procedures for no other reason than self-preservation.
However, we all know from our past experience that this is not always the case and getting buy-
in from the individual employee in safety programs can be relatively difficult for many reasons.
In this short article I would like to talk about how visible Leadership and Accountability impacts
the HSE culture of an organization and influences how employees share in the ownership of HSE
programs and the growth of your overall HSE culture.
I think it goes without saying leadership has the most direct impact on the employee’s perception
of what safety is in any given environment. If managers and supervisors in leadership positions
do not respect and act in accordance with basic HSE fundamentals, the employee will critique
the behavior of leadership and adjust his or her own personal behavior to the norms of the
working environment. Simply put, if a person in a leadership position does not walk the HSE
walk and talk the HSE talk, the employee will not see the value in following along.
Let’s use walking down the stairs as an example of a common workplace hazard most people can
relate to. Many organizations with such a hazard preach the use of three points of contact or at
minimum the use of handrails when traveling stairs to limit the exposure of slips, trips and falls.
This is a common sense HSE best practice that is easy for all employees to comprehend until
they see a person in a leadership position walking down the stairs for a meeting while holding a
cup of coffee in one hand and a laptop in the other. This simple failure in leading by example
puts the employee witnessing this act in a very complicated position and opens the door for
questioning the entire HSE culture of an organization. Here are some of the questions that may
run through such an employees mind: If the manager or superior does not hold the handrail why
should I have to? If leadership does not recognize the dangers of falling down the stairs then
does the hazard really exist? What other rules am I being asked to follow for the sake of safety
are just bullet points in training to cover the companies liability and are not really necessary?
What will happen to me if I approach this manager walking down the stairs incorrectly and
intervene? If I fall down the stairs because I did not hold the handrail and get hurt can I blame it
on the manager who set the bad example?
As you can see this failure by leadership to not hold onto a handrail and follow an HSE best
practice has now just created a complicated and uncomfortable situation for the employee who
observed the act and is now trying to decide how to best interpret behavior expectations in the
workplace. Should the employee intervene and take the chance of ridicule for taking a proactive
step? This is hard for many employees as the fear a negative response our getting brushed off

2. which limits the chances of the intervention from happening. This also opens the door for the
employee to make a difficult decision the next time they have to navigate stairs with a cup of
coffee and laptop and is unable properly use a handrail. Does the employee decide to minimize
the risk as they were trained and take the elevator or leave the laptop freeing up a hand to use the
handrail? Does the employee ignore the possible hazards and consequences associated with
falling down the stairs and decide to carry the full load? In this situation the perception of risk of
falling may be minimal but the reality is other employees will be watching and when employee
decided to navigate the stairs either using proper or improper techniques the culture of the work
environment will change for the better or worse depending on their next action. If the employee
uses the handrail anyone witnessing will make a mental note of the proper technique and will be
more likely to comply with HSE best practices in the future. If the handrail is not used any
employee observing the behavior will be more likely to disregard HSE best practice the next
time they have to use the stairs.
For safety programs to work the employee must believe that creating a safety culture is in their
best interest. Persons in leadership positions should be encouraged to make appearances in new
employee training sessions and safety meetings to talk about the HSE culture and expectations.
Most important, Leaders should actively participate in workplace observations and interventions.
It is critical that anytime a leader sees an unsafe act they immediately intervene in a positive &
professional manner to stop the unsafe act and take the time to recognize employees for their
individual commitment and participation in HSE programs and best practices. Lastly, leaders
need to show they are able to receive an intervention without reprisal and accept compliments for
positive proactive leadership. These techniques will reinforce all of your HSE programs and lay
the foundation for a strong progressive HSE culture.
Now the question is how does an HSE Manager get leaders to actively participate in building a
strong HSE culture? We must intervene with a private conversation about the unsafe actions that
have been observed. In this particular example, an HSE Manager should be able to approach a
manager and let them know that they were seen coming down the stairs with coffee and a laptop
and did not use the handrail. Then the HSE Manager can reinforce that we teach using the
handrails in new employee training because slips, trips and falls are serious workplace hazards.
The HSE Manager should also remind managers that employees who see managers not following
HSE best practices will be more likely to participate in at risk behavior. Next, get a commitment
from the manager that they will make a conscious decision the next time they take the stairs to
use the handrail and then recommend leadership take time to attend safety meetings to reinforce
HSE best practices.
In the next article we will address the positive and negative impacts of short-term safety
campaigns in the workplace. Please feel free to contact me at jlandis@catalyst-hsegroup.com
with questions comments or recommendations for future articles.