Why You Need A New Safety Manager

Safety managers and advisers must recognize that they are essentially game coaches - coaching to win in safety.

why you need a new safety manager by kevin burns safety speaker

I’ve met some great middle managers in my day. I’ve also met some incredibly arrogant and self-centered ones too - holding the keys to their little silos and kingdoms. I’ve met empathetic senior managers and egotistical ones. I’ve met caring supervisors and tyrants. I’ve met General Managers who treat others as equals and GMs who wield their power like a Star Wars light saber.

What I’ve learned out of all of this is that it’s not the title that makes people act one way or another. It is the personality of the individual that does.

So when I posted my quote last week on LinkedIn, it was met with derision and disbelief:

“If employees run for their PPE only when the safety manager comes around, you need a new safety manager.”

I was challenged with how I could make such a blanket statement. Surely it was upper management’s fault that they didn’t support the safety manager. Surely it was the fault of the front-line supervisor and the fault of the front-line employees who should be terminated ahead of the safety manager. In other words, it seemed to be everyone else’s fault except the safety manager.

Mind you, not everyone was against me. The vote for and against seemed to be split 50/50.
I’m not suggesting that on his first month on the job, a twenty-something safety adviser should be fired because everyone runs for their PPE when they see him coming. However, I am suggesting that if after a goodly period of time, if front-line staff still do not wear their PPE and abide in safety without being policed into it, you have evidence of an ineffective safety manager or adviser who simply needs to be replaced.

Effectiveness Is Key

Just because you graduate university with a diploma doesn’t make you effective at the job. Managers get moved out because they are ineffective. Front-line personnel get fired because they can’t do the job well enough. Why should an ineffective safety manager be allowed to continue to be paid for being largely ineffective at helping employees embrace safety? They shouldn’t. Like every other profession, if you’re simply not very good at the job, you shouldn’t be allowed to remain in it by your title or certification.

Safety management involves two parts: safety and management. Certification is required for the first. The second part is voluntary. But without any training, schooling or education in effective management and communication techniques, you may find yourself largely ineffective at the job regardless of the numbers of certifications you may carry. After all, being a successful safety manager or adviser has less to do with knowing the Code and more to do with communicating the Code.

Look To Sports For Examples

In sports like hockey, when the team refuses to play for the coach, the coach gets fired. It’s not the assistant coaches (front-line supervisors) who get fired, not the president or VPs (senior management) and certainly not all 25 players (front-line staff). It’s the coach (safety manager) who gets their walking papers. Regardless of how much knowledge the coach may have about the game, if the coach is unable to get his players to play for him, it’s time to try someone else.

Safety managers and advisers must recognize that they are essentially game coaches - coaching to win in safety (tweet this). If they can find a way to get inside the players’ heads and to unlock the player’s desire to want to embrace safety, you will have a very successful safety program. However, if a safety manager or adviser only wants to scold the players into wearing their hockey gear and reciting to them the rules of the game, they will never own the hearts and minds of their players. They won’t be able to tap into the players’ motivation and desire to want to give their all to the game.

A Long Safety Management Career

No person who is ineffective at a job is entitled to continue to do the job if the players are not willing to play for them. Safety management isn’t a question of schooling, it is a question of effectiveness in communication and coaching. Every person, including safety managers, will be trained to a level of competence by their employer. However, excellence in effectiveness is a personal choice beyond that.

The secret for any safety manager to having a long and illustrious career is to keep on top of new trends, new learning and new communication techniques. Read the books, attend the seminars and watch the videos. Strengthen what is working and change what isn’t. Take your players to the championship. And like professional athletes, practice, practice, practice.

Effectiveness doesn't happen at the last minute. You have to plan ahead so if you've got an upcoming safety meeting or event you'd like me to speak at, let's get started now.

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Topics: safety, safety buy-in