Safety Leadership Are you made of the right stuff? › media › 2059 › hsl-soft-skills-chiltern... · 2018-07-31 · (Clarke, S (2013) Safety leadership: A meta-analytic review

HSL: HSE’s Health and Safety Laboratory © Crown Copyright, HSL 2016 HSL: HSE’s Health and Safety Laboratory © Crown Copyright, HSL 2016

IOSH Chiltern 16th February 2017

Jennifer Webster MSc, CPsychol, AFBPsS

Safety Leadership Are you made of the right stuff?

HSL: HSE’s Health and Safety Laboratory © Crown Copyright, HSL 2016

How can you go from A to B?

Safety is a burden: something the H&S team do

Little interest in safety

Accidents are unavoidable

Focus on ‘who’ to blame

Integral to business activities

Routine, visible senior leadership

Strong partnership working

Anticipate safety issues

Investigate full range of root causes


The recipe for safe behaviours

Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., West, R. (2011) The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science, 6:42.


Why leadership is important for H&S


WHY LEADERSHIP IS IMPORTANT FOR H&S

Widespread agreement between industry, regulators, academics and the press that leadership is a key component of a safe organisation:

Leadership influences behaviours in the workplaceGood leadership reduces the likelihood of work related stress

(WRS) Effective leadership drives a positive safety culture

This view is widely supported by findings from almost all major incident inquiries and investigations.

(Ref: HSE Research Report 952, 2012)


WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

No single definition or concept of leadership that satisfies all, however lots of similar definitions.

Leadership can be defined as the capacity to influence people, by means of personal attributes and/or behaviours, to achieve a common goal/purpose (CIPD, 2015).


Leadership Styles - Transactional

Command and control,

Clarifies performance expectations,

Monitors and rewards performance,

Intervenes and takes corrective action.


Leadership Styles - Transformational

Inspiring role model,

Motivates employees to work safely,

Shows concern for employee welfare,

Challenges employees,

Mentor.


Commitment and compliance

“Transformational leadership behaviours are most effective in encouraging safety participation, whereas active transactional leadership behaviours are most effective in promoting safety compliance.”

(Clarke, S (2013) Safety leadership: A meta-analytic review of transformational and transactional leadership styles as antecedents of safety behaviours. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology Vol. 3, No. 86, pp.22-49)


KEY SAFETY LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS

1. Being a role model

2. Effectively communicating

3. Building a shared vision

4. Engaging with employees

5. Reinforcing positive safety behaviours

6. Authenticity


1. BEING A ROLE MODEL

Effective Safety Leadership means:

Being a safety role model across the organisation

Demonstrating personal commitment to safety through behaviour


HOW TO BE A ROLE MODEL

Lead by example

Comply with all safety standards

Behave in a safe and healthy way

Report safety issues and near misses

Consistently apply safety standards

Make decisions that demonstrate H&S is a priority


2. EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING


Establishing good two-waycommunication,

Taking action to address individual concerns.


HOW TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE

Create opportunities to talk to employees about their safety concerns,

Provide timely feedback on the actions taken to address safety concerns,

Be visible on-site to find out first hand what it’s really like,

Support decisions to stop work on safety grounds.


The importance of non-verbal cues

Dr. Albert Mehrabian (1981) Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes (2n Edn.) Wadsworth, Belmont, California

Your listeners pick up…

7% of what you say

38% of the way the words are delivered

55% of your facial expressions


Transactions: The 7% and the 38%

P

A

C

Dr. Eric Berne – Transactional Analysis


We constantly shift between P A C

A A

C C

Parent = values

Adult = logicand rationality

Child = emotion


Feedback and Feed Forward

Feedback is information provided after an activity. It should be timely, and focused on specific, observed behaviors

Feed forward is given before the activity. It describes expectations, the when and how (method) before the activity. Feed forward are practical notes-technical remainders


Your feed forward mission!

What one thing do you think would

make a difference to you as a person or

as a leader?

Your mission

Have as many feed forward conversations in 5 minutes that you can

Person A: “The area I’m working on is…”

Person B: Offer two positive suggestions


How was it for you?


3. BUILDING A SHARED VISION


Creating and communicating a compelling safety vision

Building commitment to achieving the shared vision


HOW TO BUILD A SHARED VISION

Consult with others to identify and set clear safety goals

Engage with employees about how to achieve the goals

Help individuals and teams understand how the vision translates into their everyday work

Champion the vision by being a role model and never compromising on safety for productivity


4. ENGAGING WITH EMPLOYEES


Supporting a challenging culture

Creating a climate of continuous improvement


HOW TO ENGAGE WITH EMPLOYEES

Use observation techniques to identify areas where health and safety can be improved

Seek employees views and ideas on how health and safety can be improved

Involve employees in identifying solutions to problems

Identify and share good practice from both within and external to the organisation


5. REINFORCING POSITIVE SAFETY BEHAVIOURS


Setting clear behavioural standards and ensuring they are met

Recognising and rewarding positive safety behaviours


HOW TO REINFORCE POSITIVE SAFETY BEHAVIOURS

Provide constructive feedback/feed forward to individuals and teams

Give positive feedback for a job done safely

Challenge unsafe practices and behaviours

Clearly explain the potential consequences of unsafe practices and behaviours


6. AUTHENTICITY


Nurturing open and honest relationships with others

Acting with integrity


HOW TO BE AUTHENTIC

Be transparent by openly sharing information with others and encouraging them to do the same

Be aware of how your own behaviour and actions impact on others

Seek feedback from others to improve your own interactions

Demonstrate consistency

Make informed decisions


SELF-REFLECTION

Where are my strengths?

Where are my weaknesses?

What can I do differently to address my weaknesses?



Some of our customers..

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About HSL - Operational Units

Major Hazards

Health Risks

Risk ManagementProficiency Testing & Analytical Services

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Further information

If you would like to talk further about how we can help you improve the safety culture and leadership:

HSL’s consultants are:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Copies of Safety Culture/Climate white papers from [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




Knowledge Cafe

Round 1:

Discuss your experiences of poor safety leadership –what types of management/leadership behaviours have you found really frustrating?


Knowledge Cafe

Round 2:

Describe examples of where you have seen good safety leadership in action.

This could be something you do that you want to share or what you have seen someone else do.


Knowledge Cafe

Round 3:

Agree up to 5 key safety leadership attitudes/behaviours that you would like to encourage.

Documents

Safety Leadership Are you made of the right stuff? › media › 2059 › hsl-soft-skills-chiltern... · 2018-07-31 · (Clarke, S (2013) Safety leadership: A meta-analytic review