RoadTek

Safety Leadership
Objectives:
•Explore and share ideas about some basic concepts of
Leadership and how they can be applied in WH&S
•Begin development of your own safety leadership
improvement strategy
Leadership – What is it?
 Leadership is not:

Not Power -
•Power derives from status, money, ability to harm,
access to media or control materials
•A Thug who sticks a gun in you back has “power” but
not leadership
 Leadership is not:
Not Status -
•Status or position may enhance the opportunity for
leadership
•Some in a high status or position haven’t got a clue
how to lead
Not Authority –
• A person may have subordinates, but not followers
•People will only follow if a person acts as a leader
 Leadership is not:

Not Management -
•Management is an organizational skill
•Managers preside over procesesses, functions and
program
The leadership role, more than any other
function, shapes and influences the culture
that produces performance outcomes
You do not lead by hitting people over the head…
that’s assault, not leadership
Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Impact of Leadership
Excellent safety performance is about getting the right
behaviour from people.
•Although necessary, it is not about systems and procedures.

As a leader, you have a tremendous impact in the field by what you:

 Say
 Do
 Don’t say or don’t do
Visible Leadership
Primary Key for achieving Safety Success:

SAFETY
LEADERSHIP
=
VISIBLE
COMMITMENT
Your Role as a Leader
• Excellent performance requires your leadership
• As a leader you should know:
 how our safety programs work and your role in them
 the importance of leadership in getting the right behaviours
Leading in the Field
• ‘Walk the talk’
• Demonstrate your commitment with visible actions
• Follow-through with actions
• Never turn a blind eye
• Hold others accountable
Fair
Be Firm
Consistent
Your Job as a Safety Leader is to…
• Explain the HSE process to employees
• Provide effective feedback
• INTERVENE: NEVER walk past an unsafe act or
condition. To do so is to approve or condone the activity
or condition
• Seek to understand WHY the situation or behaviour was
that way
And so correct the problem, not treat the symptom
At-Risk Behaviour
If you see someone taking a risk, you are authorised to:
Stop the job
Talk to them
Explain the risk
Explain the safe way
If you are ignored & they continue to take the risk,

Report it
Personalise your leadership…
Use words like
I need you to…
My expectations are…
I want you to...
Not
The Client want you to…
WHS Advisor requires…
My boss wants…
Actions Speak Louder Than Words

• Lead by example
• Employees will subconsciously follow your actions

They always pick up the bad habits first!

• Show them the way
• Nominate individuals and teams for awards and certificates
Recognition
• Give plenty of verbal recognition to individuals and teams for
jobs well done

Let individuals and team known when you observe

their safe behaviour
Use pre-start safety talks to provide feedback
• Catch your team doing the right thing!!
 Safety Leadership Journey
Inspire Others to Behave
Safely

Leadership Ongoing Journey

Personal Transformational
Approach
(Consultation/Mutual Respect)

Discover and
share other Why we are
Raised ways of here today
Awareness operating
Build Relationships

(Conversation)
System
Procedures Compliance
Policies Licence to Operate
Forms
Transactional - Tasks
(Talk at and Tell)
Practical Tools To Apply Leadership
 Understanding Peoples Behaviour
ABC Model

Activator Behaviour
Events that precede behaviour Things people say and their
and prompt it. actions Consequences
Have 20% impact impact on
Behaviour determines Events that follow behaviour
behaviour
performance Have 80% influence on whether
E.g. Training, personal beliefs,
behaviour occurs again
behaviour of others, past
experience, requested to do
something
Understanding Peoples Behaviour
Principles of ABC

• Majority of all incidents are caused by people behaving in

unsafe ways
• Understanding employee behaviour is fundamental to the
success of creating a safe workplace
• Premise of model is that all Behaviour (B) is a function of its
immediate environment.
• Factors such as Activators (A) and Consequences (C) of
each behaviour trigger and sustain it
ABC Model
• Activator – Aspect of the environment, precedes and
influences behaviour
Eg – Others are doing it or The right tool/plant not available

• Behaviour – Something you can see, every day – every

task – Its either safe or unsafe
• Consequence – Every behaviour is followed by a series
of consequences
ABC Model - Examples
• Someone is speeding in the workplace
• Why are they speeding? – Thrill, Late for work,
emergency, attitude, nice road to speed
• Ended up as – crash, caught by Police, someone else
ran off the road

• Activity - Work out the ABC!

• Activity – Think of Some others
• As a Leader – Ask the questions
How we reward Unsafe Behaviours

How we punish safe behaviour indirectly

Key Message
ABC Model is a cultural change tool
Moves culture from one that inadvertently encourages
unsafe behaviour and punishes safe behaviour
To one that increases positive behaviour through
reinforcement
Psychology of Influencing Others
• The part of the brain that
determines what we are
going to pay attention to
• You can program your
Reticular RAS
Activating System • You can program other
peoples RAS
(RAS) • Influencing Positively
with RAS questions
Influencing Positively
RAS Questions -
• What might happen if you fall?
• What impact does it have for others if they see you doing it
that way?
• Have you thought about the consequences?
• How can you improve on that?
• Activity - Can you think of Others?
Consult and Communicate

• Intent
• Look & Observe
• Engage
• Ask Questions
• Discuss
Consequences
Leading an Effective Toolbox
Talk/Pre-Start Meeting
• Target

• Engage

• Ask Questions

• Mutually Agree
In Short…
• You are the key to high performance. Your job as a
Leader is as much about SAFETY as it as about
productivity
• Know and understand the expectations and systems
• Ask for support whenever needed… demand it!
• If in doubt, STOP THE WORK
• Document your efforts
 REMEMBER

YOU are responsible for safety

YOU are the KEY to safety

 Safety Leadership
Commitment Statement

What is it?
•One page written statement
•Personal commitment made to your health & safety
•Commitment to what you will or will not do
•Share your commitment with you collogues by posting in visible
location i.e. office door, work station etc

Why?
•Create a “total safety culture”
•Next step towards achieving the our goal of “Zero Harm”

At work – on the roads – in the home!

 SAFETY LEADERSHIP
Commitment Statement

At work – on the roads – in the home!

I will:
 Intervene if I observe at-risk behaviours

 Lead by example and “walk the talk”

 Provide recognition to individuals of teams when safe behaviours are
observed
Any questions?
 Only talk on a hands free mobile when driving

 Adopt the principles safety as a whole of life value

I will not:
 Be a risk taker instead a risk manager

 Ignore people that are at-risk of injury without taking action

 Walk past a hazard without talking action: fix it, make it safe, report it
Your turn…
 Condone the taking of “short cuts” that defeats approved safe work
practices
 Drive recklessly and in doing so place myself or others at-risk

Name: Position: Signature: Date:

Stephen Pooler Senior WHS 13 Jun 2008

Advisor
Summary of Safety
Leadership Attributes

Recognise Participate & Inspire &

and Reward Communicate Motivate

Safety Leaders Safety

Improvement
Lead Provide Show
by Example Resources Concern

Role Model Build Trust

Your attention and participation
was appreciated