Safety leader

The Panel believes that process safety in BP s refining operations would benefit from BP s designation of a high-ranking process safety leader who will participate consistently in important refining decision-making that affects process safety performance. 

The formal decision about riser disconnection is made by the rig manager. The rig manager receives information from the stability leader the stabiUty leader is also second leader and maritime safety-leader on the rig. In addition, the on board drilling supervisor (from the operator company) knows, and is ejqtected to act in accordance with these criteria. 

Enlightened safety leaders understand the value of creating and fostering a strong safety culture within their organization. 

Your primary responsibility as a safety leader is to take charge and provide direction to the entire organization. Review the following list of safety leadership actions, followed by a detailed explanation of each ... 

An effective safety leader is adept at aligning top management s values so that safety is priority munber one. This might mean you will need to provide a cost/benefit analysis of your safety program. In other words, in order for top management to adopt a safety first philosophy, you may need to produce a good retm n on their safety investment (see ROI for Your Safety Program minor tab for more information). 

In addition to the major roles described above that you fulfill on a daily basis, the safety leader and manager, there are two other roles you need to perform as well. The first is that of being the corporate bar setter. 

Section 1 General Information — The main conclusion of this section is that when it comes to safety, cost doesn t appear to be an issue. Results from safety leaders responses demonstrate a strong verbal commitment toward safety, even when in competition with economic and customer service issues. 

With respect to communications about safety, results of the survey illustrate that safety leaders at leading carriers create an atmosphere in which employees are free to raise safety concerns and there is open and continuous dialogue among employees, supervisors, and managers about safety issues. 

Brian Walencik is the Environmental Health and Safety Leader for Renewable Energy at GE Power and Water. He manages a program that develops competency in environmental health and safety for GE professionals and directs an initiative promoting mentoring opportunities between junior employees and senior environmental health and safety leaders. Mr. Walencik has more than 18 years of environmental health and safety experience with GE and has a BS in environmental law and economics from the State University of New York. 

Brian Walencik, Environment, Health, and Safety Leader for Renewable Energy, GE Power and Water (committee member) ... 

There are many traits that are common in leaders. Passion for their vision is one of those, and this must be one of the traits that you exhibit as a leader in safety. You must be honest and trustworthy to be a safety leader and you must be able to motivate people to do their jobs in a safe manner. You must lead by example so that you always follow safety procedures every time you enter the laboratory. Always wear appropriate safety gear, and always consider safety in all that you do. Overall, you should be one who has adopted the safety ethic (see Figure 1.3.1.1) so that you not only believe in the value of safety but you strive to ensure that safety becomes an integral part of your everyday life. 

Leaders learn to communicate effectively so that they can get their message across to those who need to hear it. Their words should be inspiring and positive to emphasize what is possible. A safety leader should continually strive to learn more about safety and how to relate the importance of safety to other people. Leaders seek to educate in safety rather than relying only on safety training. Safety education imparts basic knowledge so that people themselves understand safety principles and will be able themselves to select appropriate safety procedures and approaches. 

Geller provides 50 principles for establishing a strong safety culture. Some of these principles are safety should be an internally driven value, people should understand safety theory, people should teach safety, safety leaders can be developed, and the focus of safety should be safety processes not safety outcomes. These principles lead you to continually work on how to do things safely rather than just emphasizing a zero incident rate or time away from work for an incident. Geller points out that safety continually conflicts with human nature, which seeks to do those things that are convenient, comfortable, and expedient since safety can sometimes lead to discomfort, inconvenience, and inefficiency of time. 

Safety leaders must learn safety leadership. Some people have certain leadership qualities and characteristics. Safety leadership is not an automatic part of such qualities. Safety leaders must know how to recognize hazards for the work they oversee and how to protect against those hazards. Safety leaders need to know how to communicate safety practices effectively and influence safety among their workers. 

The possibility of disasters on the scale just described has given rise to what I shall call the safety leader phenomenon. Safety leaders are companies, found primarily in the chemical and oil industries, whose commitment to safety is exemplary and whose safety practices and performance are almost legendary. Companies such as Du Pont and Shell are often cited in OHS circles as safety leaders in this sense—as examples of what is possible and how the very best health and safety performance can be achieved. In what follows we will consider the extent to which they can legitimately serve as models and will identify some lessons which can be learnt from their experience. 

The outstanding feature of the approach taken by safety leaders is the fact that the commitment to safety comes from the top. The managing director of Du Pont Australia reads accounts of every lost-time accident occurring in a Du Pont facility anywhere in the world. These accounts can be brought up on a computer screen on his desk at a moment s notice. In an interview I had he was able to tell me of the company s most recent LTI which had occurred somewhere in Africa. Senior management in Australia, he said, must report every lost-time accident to head office in the United States within 24 hours and explain what is being done to prevent a recurrence. 

A second aspect of the approach taken by safety leaders is the stress on developing a culture of safety. But while it is clearly important to develop the appropriate attitudes among employees, this can easily degenerate into blaming the victim. Here are the words of a senior manager of one safety leader whom I interviewed. 

But, as pointed out in Chapter 1, to claim that a certain proportion of accidents are caused by people is unenlightening. Accidents often involve both an immediate human error and a variety of engineering and system precursors. Furthermore, it is often more effective to make technical changes which will prevent accidents occurring than it is to exhort workers to behave properly. Insofar as the stress which safety leaders place on culture involves holding workers responsible for the injuries which occur to them, it is not an approach worthy of emulation. 

Thus, while the commitment of top management is exemplary in these firms, there are other respects in which it may be neither desirable nor even possible to translate the experience of the safety leaders into other industrial contexts. Perhaps the major limitation on the generalisability of their experience is the fact that it is the fear of disaster which drives their safety commitment. A similar level of commitment cannot be expected in industries where similar disasters are not possible. 

The best way to ensure eyewash compliance in the workplace is by building it into the company s safety plan. Employ a safety manager, assign safety stewards or use a third-party vendor to handle employee training and station maintenance. The appointed safety leader should train staff regularly as well as maintain eyewash units according to ANSI and manufacturers guidehnes. 

How could this hypothetical but all too common scenario happen Says a safety director Four months ago we celebrated the scfety success of our division. Our recordable rates were lower than ever. Our leaders got bonuses. This quarter we had a fatal injury, an amputation, and a severe burn. Our safety leaders are perplexed and our division manager and his boss are angry. ... 

Montante has been given dozens of definitions for safety. In an article for Professional Safety (Montante, 2006), Montante listed responses from 130 safety leaders within one organization. The definitions he received include ... 

Which strategy is an important characteristic of a good safety leader ... 

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