You might say, ‘I’m just a safety officer – not a leader’.

ALL safety professionals are

leaders, as you are responsible for guiding your entire organisation when it comes to
adopting, implementing and following sound safety practices.

 And as a leader, the following nine qualities are key to fulfilling your role
successfully.

1. Demonstrate genuine concern for people

Being a safety officer is more than a job, it’s a vocation. You must be ready for self-
sacrifice, rather than being self-centred and self-serving. Your responsibility attached
to this job is larger than our individual self. If a safety officer fails to conduct
inspection, audit or training, the consequences could be damaging, or worse, fatal.  

 Whenever you’re feeling weary, motivate yourself with the thought that our
profession plays an important role in preventing accidents and saving lives. If there is
negligence on our part, we are accountable for our actions. Remember the Deming
Principle: Most accidents trace their root causes to mismanagement. As part of
management, what a safety officer does, or fails to do, will always have an impact on
people and systems.

 2. Earn their respect

As a safety officer, you need the respect of your team. Never do anything that would
lose their respect, such as inventing facts or violating safety rules yourself. If you
don’t know the answer to a question, admit you don’t know and then find the answer.
Making something up because ‘you’re supposed to know everything’ won’t do anyone
any favours. Also, if you see a safety violation, take the chance to correct the
violation and use it as a teaching moment.

 3. Reward ‘good behaviour’

As a safety officer, you may be tempted to focus on the negative part of the job.
However, you can find ways to focus on the positive elements too. Find ways to
reward your team when they do things the right way. If your team is struggling with a
certain safety focus, find a way to track when they are safe. If your team is struggling
with ladder safety, for example, choose one piece of ladder safety and reward them
when they stay safe. You could choose to track when ladders are being inspected and
reward them if they inspect their ladders at a percentage you choose. Obviously, you
can adapt this tip for whatever works best for you and your team.

 4. Have a plan

Any good leader has a plan and executes that plan. As a safety officer, make sure you
develop a safety plan and then use that plan as you develop trainings and find ways to
enforce the rules.

5. Make your behaviour visible

Effective safety leaders lead by example, strictly adhering to the health and safety
protocol outlined at all times. Your actions set the precedence for employees to
follow, even when unobserved.  If the safety leader cuts corners or takes risks,
employees will behave in a similar manner. Great safety leaders are alert at all times
and visibly follow the established guidelines to ensure they set the right example for
workers.

 6. Respond timeously

Be diligent in logging all safety issues and events immediately, and prioritise their
resolution as soon as you can. An effective safety leader is quick to notice and respond
to safety issues as they arise, lending visibility to these and any lessons to learn, while
stimulating co-operation, trust and inspired motivation among employees. If an
employee does not adhere to safety regulations, management must assertively (and
without compromise) address the issue at hand. An inability to show strict yet
constructive response in relation to safety issues can gradually erode employees’ trust
in the programme and breed a lax culture.

 Where appropriate, involve workers in resolution of safety issues; provide a safe place
for concerns and ideas to be heard. By involving your employees in safety concerns as
opposed to just informing them of issues, you aid better understanding and respect for
safety, while promoting a strong culture of safety.

 7. Maintain a proactive approach

An effective safety leader knows it is not only imperative to respond to safety

incidents immediately after they occur, you must also be proactive in your approach,
continuously anticipating potential risk factors on the ground, in the environment or
hidden in routine employee behaviours. Carefully observe working areas, which will
highlight possible ways to enhance safety, in addition to hearing each issue the staff
raises. Workers are a vital and important resource, and regular proactive consultations
are vital to the overall safety success of a company; carry out informal and specific
meetings to discuss:

 high risk areas

 safety reports
 proposed changes, and
 safety surveillance concepts.

 8. Build strong communication

The best safety procedures are worthless unless all workers at all levels within the
company communicate effectively about potential hazards/issues and work as a team
to remove them. As an effective safety leader, you are aware that workers have a
distinct advantage in highlighting work hazards and providing essential and valuable
input into effectual safety procedures and policies due to their knowledge of the
workplace and everyday practices.

 It is important to maintain communication through consultations between officers,

EHS practitioners, advisors, managers and workers around occupational health and
safety practices. This creates a powerful commitment from everyone, on all levels, to
implement safety decisions and practices, in addition to developing trust and
cooperation within the company. Therefore, a key ingredient is a framework that
makes it easier for workers to report safety hazards in an open forum, highlights their
contribution and earns them respect with management and their social sphere of
colleagues.

 Ensure to inform everyone of the exact protocols and their role in the operation.
Establish the quickest and most productive form of verifiable communication to all
parties involved with:

 Regular meetings
 Tool box discussions
 Face to face discussions
 Focus groups to deal with specific safety concerns
 Worker surveys
 A system for logging issues and resolution
 Share safety information and updates in newsletters/electronic noticeboards

 9. Be conscientious

Another important attribute of an effective safety leader is to possess a strong sense

of responsibility towards your staff and company’s health and safety, as well as a drive
to constantly raise your level of competence and knowledge. It is your role to oversee
and attend to all details necessary for safety excellence. Keep up to date, ensure
regular spot checks, audits and observations are performed, document and
communicate effectively so everyone within the company is aware of, and operate
within the safety procedures outlined at all times.

Additionally, you need to ensure you remain up to date.