Page 97 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2018

PRACTICAL EXCELLENCE
BY SHAWN M. GALLOWAY
Ten Questions to Mature Executive Safety Thinking
ACultures of today are a result of practices of the past.
ll progress begins by thinking differently. Today’s current Below are 10 questions/statements views regarding safety excellence should be at least par- to ask to gain insight into the current tially obsolete in 10 years: how safety excellence is de- perspectives. It is recommended that fined and achieved, what the goals should be, who is re- answers are anonymous to allow for
sponsible for what, and how long it will take in time and resources. What are your executive leaders’ perspectives on this? How well aligned are they?
If the executive staff isn’t aligned and there is no clear and understood strategy for achieving safety excellence, can you be surprised you have so many different cultures throughout the en- terprise? Much of our work focuses on maturing and aligning the thinking and subsequent strategy and execution within an orga- nization. This often begins with helping evolve current paradigms with senior leaders, who set the tone and direction not only for the culture, but the overall business trajectory.
Consider W. Edwards Deming’s warning: “Your system is per- fectly designed to give you the results you’re getting.” To operation- alize that, employee behaviors are a byproduct of the systems and culture they work within, and that of their bosses all the way up the organizational hierarchy. If the leaders aren’t leading advancement thinking within, don’t expect the followers to follow. Cultures of today are a result of practices of the past.
When maturing thinking, it is helpful to first gather a baseline of current thoughts around four key areas: how safety excellence is defined, the strategy to achieve it, who is responsible for what, and how data is leveraged and progress measured and achieved.
a more truthful perspective. Results should be shared with the respondents, allowing leaders to see how their peers replied. These outcomes alone will be a great catalyst for deeper conversations.
1. How do you define safety excel- lence?
2. As an executive, what common things would you see or hear when visiting a location that explains how safety excellence was achieved there?
3. When great safety performance is recognized, how do you confirm, or what data supports the results were achieved due to doing the right things rather than luck or temporary improvement?
4. What does data tell you to focus on to improve both safety performance and culture?
5. What do you see as the biggest challenge to further improve both safety performance and culture?
6. Describe your current multi-year strategy for achieving and sustaining excellence in safety performance and culture.
7. How does the current safety strategy support and enable the current business strategy, and are there areas where the safety strat- egy conflicts with or hinders the business strategy?
8. What elements of the safety strategy should be owned by the safety function versus operations and line leadership?
9. What do you see as the priorities for your safety executive (what should they be spending their time on)?
10. What do you see as the most important safety roles and re- sponsibilities for someone in your position?
With the answers to these questions, not only will you gain an understanding of where the current thinking is, you will also know where to focus your efforts to help mature the thinking and, subse- quently, align the safety efforts to strategically improve safety per- formance and culture. While there are many questions available to gauge the point of view of executive leaders, start with these. With the answers you receive, you will understand why.
For a template of these questions to use this in your organi- zation, contact the author and reference Safety Executive Safety Questions.
Shawn M. Galloway is the President of ProAct Safety and co-author of several bestselling books. As a consultant, advisor, keynote speaker, and icon in the industry, he has helped hundreds of organizations within every major industry to improve safety strategy, culture, lead- ership, and engagement. He is also the host of the acclaimed weekly podcast series Safety Culture Excellence®. He can be reached at 936- 273-8700 or info@ProActSafety.com.
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JUNE 2018 | Occupational Health & Safety 93
Consider W. Ed- wards Deming’s warning: “Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you’re getting.”