The best single skill you should have as a safety practitioner is not an easy one to gleen.
First I thought it was being persuasive. As an auditor I would love it if I could persuade my clients to always implement all of my recommendations because it would really give them a huge record of success but that isn’t it.
I thought perhaps it was presentation skills being a scintillating, charismatic presenter capturing my audience’s attention or persuading workers to wear their PPE or personal protective equipment when they should. No.
The best skill that a health and safety practitioner needs to have is effective and active listening. The more you listen to your workers, to your management, to your supervision the better you can determine what problems or hardships they are facing, what barriers to success exist, and you can formulate better questions to ask to lead them and you toward solutions. The better listener you are you gain exceptional insights and focus and these are essential for any effective health and safety practitioner to do their job well and thoroughly.
So remember, it is nice to be persuasive. It is nice to be a good presenter. These are all skills you should have but the best skill is the one sitting on your head; your two ears to listen effectively and actively to come up with insight into what you need to do by listening and communicating well with your workforce.