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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.

First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

AVOIDING CUBICLE DISASTERS (GUEST POST)

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For those who work in high risk jobs, workplace safety is a topic that stays close in mind. In truth, even the most placid of occupations and workplaces can lend themselves to some dangerous moments — the coffepot inferno or the Acme anvil that cascaded through the heavens to eventually collapse poetically onto one of the copy-editors —  when disaster strikes, it’s best to be prepared.

One of the main keys to safety in the workplace is to have an escape plan in place in the case of a fire, a bomb threat, or any other reason that makes it necessary to evacuate the building. Whether there are a large number of people in a workplace or just a few, proper organization is key when it comes to keeping everyone safe. Without it, it’s easy for employees to become panicked and the likelihood of injury increases substantially.

One of the first things that should be done long before any emergency situation occurs is choosing a leader. Because dealing with an emergency is not the same as dealing with everyday business needs, this may not be a person normally in a management role. Whoever this leader is, it’s important they’re able to remain calm and are capable of presenting themselves as an authority during a stressful situation. Because there may be many different ideas on what the appropriate procedure should be during an emergency, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) has developed regulations that help assure that certain regulations and standards are upheld during a workplace emergency.

  • Have a procedure for reporting emergencies.

It’s important to know what is going to happen in the event of an emergency before it happens. There may be fire alarms to pull, a plan to call 911 or an internal emergency number. Especially for larger workplaces, this should link to an intercom system so everyone knows an emergency is actually happening and isn’t a drill. For those who may be hearing impaired, another inaudible alarm, such as a flashing light, may be used to assure everyone is aware of the situation.

  • Have an emergency action plan in place.

It’s not enough to alert everyone that there’s an emergency. It’s important that employees know what to do depending on the type of emergency. In instances of a fire or gas leak evacuation procedures should be followed, and if there is a storm or some threat outside the building, seeking shelter inside is better. Larger companies often use a stairwell, smaller buildings might congregate in a closet, break room or restroom.

Often in an emergency situation, a power outage may take place, so having emergency lighting in place helps avoid potential catastrophe and keep everyone safe.

  • Designate a clear chain of command

It’s likely that your leaders in a business strategy meeting will not be the same as those who will lead the employees and visitors in a company to safety should an emergency occur. However, whoever takes on the role should be able to take it on completely. By practicing various worst case scenarios, employees will get to know and understand who they must follow in an emergency situation. Those chosen for these leadership roles should be skilled in first aid and respiratory aids such as CPR or have the ability to operate respiratory masks. 

While OSHA provides standards and guidelines for how companies should prepare from potential emergencies, having arrangements beyond those requirements are certainly recommended. Where a new business is concerned, establishing and notifying everyone of these procedures needs to be made a priority. During orientation procedures, employees should meet those who take on leadership roles in an emergencies.

Whatever emergency action plan a company puts in place, it should be tailored towards the size and type of the business. In a smaller store, one or two people in a leadership position will likely be enough in order to prevent chaos during an emergency situation. A larger corporation will need several people and will likely need to organize those persons with in a way that fits the seating arrangement of employees. Manufacturing plants, or other workplaces where there’s a lot of noise, may need to rely more heavily on the use of lights to communicate an emergency. Those who work outside, such as construction workers, may want to designate a trailer or some other safe place to go in the event of a storm or other inclement weather. The particular risks will vary depending on the size and nature of the business, so making sure the appropriate risk assessment is made is important.

In most cases, workplace emergencies will be rare, but because there is a potential of serious consequences it is important that they are treated as a real possibility. Even with all the proper plans and procedures in place, the ability of all employees to remain calm and professional is important to keeping everyone safe.

Sent by Jessica Stark