2. CONTENTS
Safety Culture - Safe Workers - Safety and First
Line Supervisors - Safety and Middle Managers -
Top Management Practices, Company Activities
and Safety - Safety Personnel - Sub-contractual
Obligation - Project Coordination and Safety
Procedures -Workers Compensation.
5. SAFETY AND FIRST LINE SUPERVISORS
First line supervisors
Directly supervises and co-ordinates the
activities
Works b/w safety management and ground
work forces
Educates the workers
8. SAFETY AND MIDDLE MANAGERS
• Middle managers are the key influential
person
• Control over safety
• Fitting the system to the safety
• They reduce the exposures and promotes a
safety culture
9. LEADING FROM MIDDLE
• Promoted based on technical expertise
• Appoint supervisors in safety
• Define specific safety activities
– Practice safety-critical behaviors
– Make regular safety contacts
– Remove system barriers
– Monitor and correct working interface conditions
– Build the culture
Editor's Notes
Building Culture
If the culture of the organization is so important, efforts in safety management ought to be aimed first and foremost at building culture in order that those safety activities which are instituted will get results. Culture can be loosely defined as “the way it is around here”. Safety culture is positive when the workers honestly believe that safety is a key value of the organization and can perceive that it is high on the list of organization priorities. This perception by the workforce can be attained only when they see management as credible; when the words of safety policy are lived on a daily basis; when management’s decisions on financial expenditures show that money is spent for people (as well as to make more money); when the measures and rewards provided by management force mid-manager and supervisory performance to satisfactory levels; when workers have a role in problem solving and decision making; when there is a high degree of confidence and trust between management and the workers; when there is openness of communications; and when workers receive positive recognition for their work.
In a positive safety culture like that described above, almost any element of the safety system will be effective. In fact, with the right culture, an organization hardly even needs a “safety programme”, for safety is dealt with as a normal part of the management process. To achieve a positive safety culture, certain criteria must be met:
1. A system must be in place that ensures regular daily pro-active supervisory (or team) activities.
2. The system must actively ensure that middle-management tasks and activities are carried out in these areas:
· ensuring subordinate (supervisory or team) regular performance
· ensuring the quality of that performance
· engaging in certain well-defined activities to show that safety is so important that even upper managers are doing something about it.
3. Top management must visibly demonstrate and support that safety has a high priority in the organization.
4. Any worker who chooses to should be able to be actively engaged in meaningful safety-related activities.
5. The safety system must be flexible, allowing choices to be made at all levels.
6. The safety effort must be seen as positive by the workforce.
One perspective that determines productive behavior of a first line supervisor is the “3 Cs view”;
Confluence: How does he converge and achieve organizational safety goals? What methods does he adopt for correcting faulty work practices? Commitment: What is the first line supervisor’s attitude and commitment towards safety? Communication: What are the ways in which he communicates with his team for executing safety work practices
Confluence
The safety management teams need to ensure that they make the first line supervisor understand and align him to the overall companies’ safety goals. As an important cog in the wheel, the supervisor can act as a productive catalyst in translating the companies’ safety culture effectively at the ground level. Every attempt should be made to ensure that he is contributing one hand forward towards improvement of workplace safety. He must be made aware of the dire consequences in the event of an unsafe act. Moreover, his views are extremely important when aligning him with the organization’s safety goals as he is the best judge of implementing strategies that could be adopted for building safe work environments.
Commitment
A first line supervisor needs to stay committed to improve workplace safety at all times. It is a well known fact that people do what they see and not what they are told. The safety Culture that a supervisor imbibes will reflect in the team that he leads. Hence it is important that he aligns with the companies’ overall goals of safety and shows his commitment to it through his habits. Workplace accident prevention has got to be the goal of not just the management but eventually translate to his team as well.
Communication
The best way to communicate with the work forces at the ground level is through the Supervisor. He can ensure that the importance of appropriate and correct behavior reaches the workforces accurately. Depending on the choice of attitude, he can use an overly autocratic method to pass the message or motivational (more humane) methods for communicating with his team. Most supervisors in India would use forceful methods for getting work done and the same translates when communicating for safety as well. Menial punishments / reprimands are given by the supervisor to drive home the message.
The first line supervisor (catalyst) needs to be provided with enough authority and power to make sure that the safety messages and vision is translated through to the work forces on the ground. From the management point-of-view, all tools can be made available to ensure an efficient and productive result.
Safety movies / animation safety movies are used as a very effective and convenient tool for communicating with work forces at the ground level. The digital medium passes the message seamlessly and breaks any language barriers or challenges that management might face in training them.
What other tools can facilitate the supervisor in ensuring the best results are got out of work-forces? What are your views on behavioral patterns that help the first line supervisor?
The Contribution of Supervisors and Middle Managers to Safety Performance
Organization change starts from the top and safety improvement efforts must be driven by senior-most leaders.
Thomas H. Krause, Ph.D. | Sep 01, 2008
Safety ultimately is about what happens in the workplace. When leaders set the directive to change the culture and lead improvement throughout the organization, it becomes imperative to transfer safety leadership principles and practices down to the site level.
In most organizations, supervisors and middle managers are key influences on organizational effectiveness and the natural proxy for senior leaders in day-to-day activities. Yet they often are left out of safety improvement efforts, largely because their role in safety is poorly understood. This article discusses the important role supervisors and middle managers play in safety improvement, and the key activities that can help them fulfill this role.
Supervisors, Managers and Safety
At its heart, management is about motivating, coordinating and directing the efforts of other people in accomplishing organizational objectives.
While front-line employees exercise some control over how they interact with the technology, they often have little if any control over the quality or condition of equipment, how systems fit the particular situation, the unstated assumptions of the organization or other factors that affect the level of exposure to hazard. This is where supervisors and middle managers come in.
By virtue of their proximity to the front-line, supervisors and managers provide the first line of defense in managing safety issues, communicating organizational priorities and values and building relationships with individual team members. They act as messengers from the senior leader to the employee and back up to leadership. The basic safety role of supervisors and managers is to enable and reduce exposures and to promote a culture in which injuries are not acceptable.
Leading from the Middle
Supervisors or middle managers are responsible for multiple priorities but have limited time in which to manage them. In addition, many people are promoted into these positions for their technical expertise and may not have received formal training in management and leadership.
Engaging supervisors and managers effectively in safety requires more than a general charge to “support safety.” Organizations need to define specific activities that can be integrated with the supervisor’s or manager’s other tasks and demands, including (at least):
Practice safety-critical behaviors – At-risk behaviors can occur at any level. Supervisors and managers must be able to identify how their behaviors influence hazards and consciously practice behaviors that reflect their support of safety.
Make regular safety contacts – Supervisors and managers need to assure basic safety functioning beyond the usual safety meeting. Together with senior leaders, this level can define essential safety practices that can be tracked over time for the workgroup. For example, safety planning with employees before a particular job or personally signing work permits.
Remove system barriers – Supervisors and managers are well-positioned to correct organizational conditions and systems that contribute to exposure. Addressing equipment availability or applying exposure recognition systems, for example, can help align the safety objective and conditions on the ground.
Monitor and correct working interface conditions – Supervisors and managers need to track leading indicator data and correct identified exposure conditions as they occur. To support this, this group needs to build fluency with the hierarchy of controls and its application in reducing or eliminating exposures.
Build the culture – Finally, supervisors and middle managers need to develop strong working relationships with their employees. In many respects, workers take the words and deeds of their supervisors and managers to represent “the company.” Qualities such as the perceived fairness of a supervisor’s decisions and the level of a manager’s credibility powerfully contribute to a safety-supporting culture.
Sustained Engagement
Effectively engaging supervisors and middle managers takes a long-term effort.
While skills development is important part to this effort, it would be a mistake to rely on training alone. Behaviors can drive change only when aligned with the goals of the organization, modeled by others in the team, and reinforced by leaders. Organizations hoping to tap into the leverage of supervisors and middle managers on safety must be prepared to define a clear, comprehensive and sustained path forward.
