Safety By Design: Leadership and Employee Involvement

In the first part of this six-part series, I discussed the reasons why it’s important for utility organizations to develop safety systems that align their safety initiatives. This article will address employee involvement, an often overlooked yet fundamental component of any effective safety system.

According to ANSI/ASSP Z10, “Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems,” the phrase “employee involvement” refers to the active participation of workers in the planning, implementation, evaluation and improvement of an organization’s occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS). The OHSMS is a key element of the Z10 standard, highlighting the value of worker input and engagement to appropriately manage workplace risks and promote a culture of safety.

A successful safety system thrives with the active participation of all workers, including senior leadership, line management, frontline leaders and line employees. When everyone aligns their actions and communications regarding safety, the organization fosters a strong, cohesive culture.

Senior Leadership
Senior leadership is critical to establishing the tone and direction necessary to achieve organizational safety success. ANSI/ASSP Z10 emphasizes that these leaders are responsible for providing clear direction to establish, implement and maintain an OHSMS. They must ensure effective employee participation at all levels, which requires senior leaders to actively engage in safety initiatives, allocate essential resources, define roles and responsibilities, and integrate safety considerations into all business operations.

It’s important to acknowledge that senior leaders encounter a variety of challenges in their roles that may go unaddressed. In my consulting experience, I have worked with many leaders across organizations of all sizes who consistently stress the value of safety within their companies. They frequently point out that safety is paramount, that they fully support it, and that their ultimate goal is to ensure that every employee goes home at the end of the day just as they arrived – safe and sound. While I genuinely believe in their intentions, these leaders are disconnected from safety, and their commitment tends to prioritize words over meaningful action.

Numerous senior leaders have a limited understanding of safety, which helps to explain the disconnect. This is a key factor to consider when examining why senior leaders may not be fully engaged with safety. Because the electric power industry has traditionally defined safety success based on OSHA compliance, low incident rates, and delegating responsibility to a safety department or specific employees, some senior leaders define safety success the same way. They believe their protocols are effective – until an incident occurs. When a worker is seriously injured or killed, these leaders often find themselves asking, “How did we get here?”

Senior leaders must be educated on the fundamentals of safety, or what I call the “look of safety.” These fundamentals include hazard identification, risk evaluation, and implementation of controls to eliminate or adequately manage risks. Leaders need to fully understand, support and participate in safety initiatives, moving beyond spreadsheets, incident rates and assigning safety responsibilities with a hands-off approach.

Conducting an engaging learning session with senior leaders is an important first step for every organization. The goal of the session should be to ensure that words align with action items, particularly concerning the organization’s hazards and threats.

Recently, the safety manager of a medium-sized utility asked me how to achieve safety buy-in from the utility’s senior leaders. The answer to that question invariably involves educating senior leaders on the extremely high risks associated with the work being performed and then asking, “As a senior leader, are you willing to accept this level of risk?” A leader who isn’t willing to do so must then determine the risk level they are willing to accept and collaborate with colleagues to design safety initiatives that support and insulate the organization and its employees.

Senior leaders must clearly understand their organization’s safety initiatives, the objectives of those initiatives and how each initiative’s impact will be measured (e.g., by using key performance indicators). This approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement, which is vital for the success of all safety initiatives. As management consultant, educator and author Peter Drucker stated, “What gets measured gets improved,” highlighting that without performance measurement, initiatives may become ineffective and provide little value.

Middle Management
Middle management personnel face a challenging leadership role in electric power organizations. They are typically responsible for operational success, which directly correlates to safety outcomes. Therefore, organizations must evaluate middle managers’ comprehension of the “look of safety.” Are these managers actively involved in identifying potential hazards and developing effective controls?

A fair number of middle managers that I’ve spoken with have said something like this: “I’ll provide employees with anything they need. We purchase the best safety supplies and ensure they’re available when needed. Employees know all they have to do is ask.” That’s a highly troublesome statement as there appears to be a disconnect between the “look of safety” and how these middle managers actually view safety. As a consultant, I frequently notice that middle management can create significant barriers to the achievement of organizational safety success. By engaging with and empowering this level of management, we can transform such challenges into opportunities for improvement.

Middle managers directly influence safety planning and execution within their departments. They are responsible for leading their teams and translating safety policies into safe work practices. When middle managers fail to perform these essential tasks, the results can include employee distrust, confusion, poor attitudes, weak safety practices, inadequate communication and an increased number of incidents. These factors are indicative of ineffective leadership.

During a corporate meeting years ago, a large utility posed a question to me. They wanted to understand why two divisions of their company had vastly different numbers of backing incidents. Division 1 had a notably low incident rate. When corporate employees visited the division, they were greeted with warm smiles and genuine inquiries about their families. In contrast, Division 2 had a high rate of backing incidents, and corporate employees were often met with a cold reception, as if their presence was unwanted. I explained that Division 2 almost certainly faced a significant leadership issue that poorly impacted the entire workforce, including safety. The senior leaders were shocked by my response.

Because effective leadership is essential to the achievement of safety success, companies focused on such success must address ineffective leadership. Effective middle managers play a vital role in enhancing workplace safety by bridging the gap between senior management and frontline workers. They must possess strong leadership skills and actively promote safety as an integral part of the organization. This approach helps to cultivate a positive organizational safety culture.

Effective middle managers also strive to ensure that their actions reflect the values and vision of the organization’s senior leaders. To support this alignment, senior leaders should evaluate middle management’s performance using key performance indicators (KPIs) that correspond to their values and goals. This will help to align safety initiatives and promote employee well-being. “Busy” safety initiatives that deliver little to no value will fade away as senior leaders and middle managers take active roles in identifying weaknesses and improving initiatives to meet organizational needs.

Frontline Leaders
From my perspective, frontline leaders are an organization’s heavyweight champions, responsible for planning and executing safe work practices – yet they often receive little to no training on how to achieve those goals.

To ensure their success, organizations must equip these employees with strong leadership and safety skills. It’s necessary for frontline leaders to understand their roles and how they will be held accountable for maintaining safe job performance. They must also align their safety efforts with the vision and values set by senior leaders. It’s a tough job!

Middle managers have an obligation to (1) demonstrate that they recognize the hazards and threats their frontline leaders face and (2) work collaboratively with those leaders to prioritize and support daily safety efforts. “Support” means active participation in those efforts as well as regular evaluation of frontline leader performance based on KPIs. Note: KPIs should address the execution of the “look of safety” based on field applications, not “busy” initiatives that are based on a checkbox.

Collaborate and Innovate
ANSI/ASSP Z10 highlights the indispensable role of strong employee engagement in enhancing an organization’s safety system, encouraging active participation from every worker in system planning, implementation, evaluation and improvement.

Think of employees as essential “cogs” in a well-oiled machine; their full engagement is critical to smooth operations and allows employers to tap into unique perspectives to better identify and tackle potential risks. Additionally, employees have a high likelihood of supporting and adopting safety solutions developed by those directly performing the work, underscoring the value of seeking such contributions.

Together, we can create safer work environments in which everyone feels valued and invested in the safety mission. Let’s embrace this opportunity for collaboration and innovation in our safety practices.

About the Author: Pam Tompkins, CUSP, CSP, is president and CEO of SET Solutions LLC. She is a 40-year veteran of the electric utility industry, a founding member of the Utility Safety & Ops Leadership Network and past chair of the USOLN executive board. Tompkins worked in the utility industry for over 20 years and has provided electric power safety consulting for the last 20-plus years. An OSHA-authorized instructor, she has supported utilities, contractors and other organizations operating electric power systems in designing and maintaining safety improvement methods and strategies for organizational excellence.