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10 Good Characteristics of Effective Safety Leader

A disaster-prone, disorganized worksite can indicate one of two things: bad safety leadership or poor safety culture. In most cases, it is both. Crisis management is more than just leadership. It is an intervention and a state of mind. If you are handling crisis and managing a safety program, you are the essential tool for making the worksite function. That being said, organized and effective work requires an effective safety leader.

There are different titles for safety professionals, such as safety experts or managers, or EHS specialists. However, when it comes to safety – they all have the same final goal – to be a leader who promotes safety and keeps people safe.

‘’Everyone can be a safety leader. It can be the shift supervisor, some frontline workers, or the production manager. Whichever you are, you need to possess the following 10 characteristics that come adjacent to the job title.’’ – says Mickey Torres, HR manager at an assignment service.

1.    A Steward of Job Safety

A safety leader is the very first person who brings all attention to job safety. Safety is their priority. Therefore, they consistently and properly wear the equipment and guide people to do the same. A safety leader joins committees and boards that make an example among the workplace, and ensures that every employee is properly informed and trained to use the equipment.

Safety is all about the people. That being said, in addition to ensuring that workers have the proper training to do their job safely, a safety leader cares about the employee’s health. A good leader will hire competent employees, train them and ensure that they are healthy and prepare to do their tasks.

This is where the rules and regulations of a company come in place. Such regulations are the backbone of the safety strategies of the leader, and governments add to this by providing a wide range of safety and health laws and benefits.

2.    Fast Responder

Every leader has to act fast. It is the trait of successful leaders, but the importance of fast reactions is emphasized in the safety business. Employees will raise concerns and at times, their actions will too. With that in mind, a safety leader must respond quickly to the safety concerns and issues raised to protect the employees and correct the deficiencies.

3.    Safety Regulations

You can’t be a true professional unless you build your professional learning curve. A great safety leader is always informed on the current safety regulations. They do this by networking with other professionals, reading materials on safety and regulations, attending conferences, and researching the internet.

There is always something new that comes up on the safety horizon. Whether it is a new strategy to implement safety measures or a new method of safety training, a great safety leader always keeps up.

4.    Meeting Deadlines

If a safety leader leaves open-ended issues, this can lead to disasters. Whether it is employee training or buying safety equipment, a good safety leader does things in a timely measure. They finish everything they start as effectively and efficiently as possible. Whenever possible, they break the big tasks into small chunks and set an allotted timeframe for their completion.

5.    Attention to Details

Issues happen no matter how organized you are or how hard you try to anticipate. As a good safety leader, you need to respond fast to issues and be prepared to handle them. Look for ways to improve the strategies and the process that lead to it. Anticipate issues aggressively before they become serious. Attention to details leads to prevention, which is always better than damage control.

6.    Accountability

You want to be a true leader? If you do, you need to learn to hold people accountable for their actions, including yourself. Great leaders motivate the employees, but part of the motivation process is led by accountability. The tolerance level can remain high, but without accountability, workers won’t be able to improve their work and safety will remain highly endangered.

7.    Solutions

Instead of giving managers a safety problem to solve, a great leader will provide them with a solution. Being a leader means being an expert in the safety field, which is why your manager will expect from you to find a solution for the safety problems. Whether it is something you anticipated or something unexpected, the only way to make an impression and succeed as a safety leader is to take on the problems and create a solution.

8.    Respect

People respect great leaders, but only the ones who respect them back. If you lack respect for the fellow workers, you won’t receive respect from them. It is that simple – people won’t hold you in high regard or consider you a true professional. Respect does not come with the title, no matter how high it is.

9.    Organization

Safety comes side by side with organization. An organized worksite equals safe worksite. One of the greatest traits of a leader is organization, but in this case, it is an essential tool for promoting safety in a workplace. Without it, the place will be a mess: plastics and construction materials without any order, over-stuffed boxes and bins, poor adhering to the safety procedures in the work site, etc. All of this results from poor organization.

10.  Communication

Safety leaders don’t just roll out a different program without discussing it with the workers. They don’t implement safety measures without explaining them to the people who need to work with them. Most importantly, they don’t expect the workers to know the how’s and when’s of safety procedures without no one communicating this with them. If you want the worksite to be a safe place for the people, you must be a good communicator and continuously share safety issues and guidelines with the workers.

Wanting to create a safety culture in a workplace is one thing. Acting on it is a whole other thing. As a safety leader, you must build on the aforementioned skills to make the workplace as safe as it can be.

About the writer

Jennifer Sanders is a writer and an editor from London. She loves sport,  to listen to music, and to communicate with different people. Find Jennifer on Twitter and Facebook.

General Safety Issues

DO SAFETY MEETINGS HAVE TO BE SO SERIOUS?

This sounds like a silly question, because there’s nothing we should be more serious about than safety!  I think the correct descriptive word regarding safety meetings is dull, rather than serious.  If the committee is bored, nothing good is going to come from that meeting.  Having served as a secretary to record safety meeting minutes, I know first-hand: those meetings were regularly scheduled monthly required meetings, and usually, some of the members had an excuse for not being present, with the resulting time being spent going over a short and sweet agenda.  

The best way to inject new life into these safety committee meetings is to have a good leader.  Many times, management will place someone in charge of the safety committee or a “Safety Officer” that possibly is a department manager over, for example, maintenance.  They do periodic inspections of the building, and know what its’ needs are.  A Safety Officer should be someone that is interested in the security of the employees, foremost.  Let the employees elect their leader.  They will choose someone they like and respect, and someone who is fun to be around, committed to the job, and an excellent motivator.  Co-leaders, one from management and one from the employees, could work together well, also. 

Having a little fun is the key.  Why not make a safety meeting special?  If you are going to spend an hour or two really getting down to the safety issues where you work, give the members a few minutes to relax by having a quick snack, and open discussion about things that they have observed that relate to on-the-job safety.  Another idea is to gather for lunch together, then get down to business and follow the agenda that has been sent to committee members prior to the meeting.  Being organized is always the best plan.  If your committee members feel more connected to their peers, they will become a more cohesive and effective team.  Remember, because they work in different departments, this may be the only chance they have to get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere. 

Any kind of meeting is much more interesting if it has a slightly different format.  Each month, invite a couple of non-members to the meeting so they can observe.  They may have valid points to raise, and see that it’s not some “secret society.”  If you are a member, ask if you may attend a meeting at another workplace to see how they do things.  Invite them to come to your workplace and offer an outside perspective regarding your safety meetings. 

You may consider term limits for the committee, so others can do their part to promote safety at work.  Don’t replace the entire committee at one time, as you need safety leaders with experience at all times.  Also, if your committee is enjoying serving in this capacity, others will be encouraged to do so.  Meetings that offer important safety information sharing in a relaxed situation can be more productive than boring, routine ones.  An end-of-the-year celebration held for all employees to express gratitude for their safe work and cooperation could give your safety curriculum that extra pizzazz!   Sharing ideas about safety should be fun as well as informative. 

P.S.  Keep those workplace safety posters up to keep everyone reminded of the importance of working safely!

Source: safetyrisk.com.au