When it comes to workplace safety, there is little doubt that safety is both an individual and a collective endeavor. Very few times does an individual’s safety not affect others.
Even in a situation where a person is working alone, if he or she is not doing the right things in terms of safety and something happens, others who may be miles away will be affected. If the person gets injured and misses work, there will have to be someone put into his or her place to cover the job – which usually means hiring a temp or moving over an employee from some other job. There may be worker’s compensation paid out, which affects the CEO and CFO. If the worker works alone but as part of a team, other team members would have to step up and cover the slack. And so forth. Basically, for each individual’s safety, the accountability for safety goes beyond the individual worker.
[Image courtesy of Flickr user Stuart Cole via a Creative Commons license]In order to manage a risk factory like your worksite, takes several layers of accountability, besides just accountability to yourself. Middle management has some vital tasks in order to assume accountability for workplace safety.
In the Middle? Have Some Mettle!
In many companies, there are several levels of bureaucaracy between the rank-andfile employees and the C-suite. The supervisors are the ones who are on the floor with the workers but have direct oversight of their activities, and the next layer is called middle management, which provides oversight of the supervisors directly and indirectly the employees. Supervisors often report to middle management about any issues regarding their teams, and sometimes middle management has the authority to do something without having to bother the C-suite with it. In many cases, safety issues are among those under the authority of middle management – they can make adustments to protocols and polciies and alert the C-suite later with a full accounting of why the changes are made and the expected improved outcomes.
This is where you are vital. Safety issues often have to be resolved quickly before they cost a company a lot of money the longer a risk is exposed. Haivng eagle-eyes when it comes to safety and being alert to all feedback from the supervisors can make a big differences in keeping all workers safe, not ust the ones you oversee directly.
More than Paper Pushing
OK, I know tha tmidle management seems to be in the business of pushing paper. Often, you have a lot of reports to send out, forms to fill out, and meetings to attend where you submit reports to various stakeholders. But when it comes to safety, you do have to leave yoru desk and office once in a while. And maybe that is a good thing for you – you do need to get off your butt every now and then and stretch your legs, so wy not check on the welfare of your employees while you’re at it?
I will go through some of your key accountabilities as a middle manager. While some of these are paper-pushing, ther are a coupel of opportunities for you to actually leave yoru desk, and I’m covering those first:
* Actiely peraticipate in department inspections. While your supervisor or safety officer might conduct the inspection, it’s a good idea for you to walk around too and get a sense first hand about what is happening. That makes any reports to sernior management much more credible because you can detail any issues and make immediate changes.
* Have one-on-ones with your workers. Once in a whil, go past yoru supervisors and have conversations with your workers about their work environments and their lives. I have written about how personal issues may leak over into work and be distractions that could elad to problems, so having conversations with yoru workers can help you more readily address any potential issues from apparent distractions.
* Devleop safety management tools and skills in yoru supervisors. Having semi-regular raining sessions with your supervisors so they are up ton the latest in protocols, guidelines and egulations will help them, and you, be better monitors for proper safety.
* Create tasks for yourself and for supervisors that show safety is top priority.
* Review reports from supervisors and address issues promptly. Be an active investigaor.
* Send reports to senior management about safety and inform about any issues and remedies or recommendations to address the issues.
The Ultimate Accountability
How important is safety to you and your company? Well that might depend on your job-performance review. If you are serious about safety, you should not be afriad to have yur department’s safety record included as part of your evaluation, along with a full accounting of all safety audits that are performed during the year. If the company considers safety its top priority, a positive safgety record will bode well for you, regardless of whatever else upon which your evaluation is based. If the company does not care as much as you do, then maybe that helps you evaluate where you work and should give you pause to figure out if you should continue working there. Yes, evaluations can and should go both ways!
Net up: The accountabilities for your bosses – the C-suite management team.