Effective health and safety management depends upon the safety leadership skills of supervisors and managers, as they determine the extent to which safety rules and procedures are adhered to in reality. Supervisors and managers also act as the interface between senior management and the workforce and are therefore the prime medium for communication. There are three core elements to effective safety leadership, namely: acting as a role model, motivating staff to behave safely and monitoring performance.
An applied research project for the UK Health and Safety Executive and three offshore oil companies revealed that the key attitudes and behaviours required for effective supervisor safety leadership include:
- Valuing subordinates
- Visiting the worksite frequently
- Facilitation of work group participation in decision making
- Effective safety communication
The Keil Centre has designed many award-winning safety leadership development processes, which can include:
- Initial assessment of safety culture
- Developing a safety leadership model
- Designing and implementing a safety leadership development programme
- 360 degree feedback on safety leadership skills
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