The critical role played by organisational leaders in the success of any management system was addressed by QRMC in our article “The Importance of Leadership” in Insight issue 12.

When considering the same relationship between leadership and positive Work Health and Safety behaviour and outcomes, there are some particular characteristics which typify successful organisations and differentiate them from mediocre ones.

Some of these characteristics are:

  1. Demonstrated commitment – While the Board and Executive Management Team clearly have a range of (sometimes competing) goals in the administration of their organisation, workers can and do get a sense of how safety is prioritised in the organisation by the actions of the Senior Managers. If the actions of organisational leaders put safety towards the bottom of the list, so will workers.
  2. Consistency – The same safety messages and policy requirements must be agreed, communicated and exhibited by all levels of leadership, from the Board and CEO down to the shop floor supervisor. This is especially true if a change in safety management or culture is being implemented.
  3. Openness – Actively fostering communication about safety in all directions – top-down, bottom-up, and horizontally – develops trust, makes identification of problems more timely and accurate, and cultivates a positive safety climate.
  4. Care for workers – Workers who feel well treated and genuinely valued by their safety leaders will have greater morale and substantially more likelihood of being committed to both the organisation and to behaving safely.
  5. Worker participation – Involving workers in decision-making (including during audits and safety risk assessments) not only means that critical information is less likely to be inadvertently missed, but also that workers are more likely to take “ownership” of the outcomes. Legislation specifies that consultation is required, especially in relation to risk assessments.
  6. Proactivity – Being proactive safety leaders includes recognising and commending good safety behaviours and performance, encouraging reporting of near misses and incidents, undertaking prompt investigation, visibly taking action to prevent their recurrence and reviewing the effectiveness of these actions.

Consistent efforts to improve safety leadership through attention to all of the above should facilitate safer behaviours in the organisation’s workers. This enhances the capacity of your organisation’s safety management system to produce good safety results, improved safety culture, and above all, safer workers.

Please contact QRMC for more information.