We hear so much about safety management and safety managers but I’ve been exploring another notion; that of safety leaders.
Implementing or maintaining a sound safety management system (SMS) requires a number of what is commonly called safety champions. This term is thrown around a lot, but of course what we really mean is safety leaders.
In simple terms, I think of a leader as someone who shows the way; that is someone who guides people in the businesses safety efforts; someone who is a safety influencer.
Another important attribute of a leader is courage. A safety leader must not wilt in their efforts when the going gets tough.
I like to see the CEO as the ultimate safety leader of his or her business community. I sometimes see a CEO who talks safety but is not seen as the organization’s safety leader. Sometimes this is because, well frankly, they are not passionate about safety and just not a safety leader in spite of what they say. When this occurs, safety leadership is left to other managers, or some ‘cultural leader’ within the organization. Worse still, the organization is rudderless when it comes to safety. This never produces optimal safety results.
Safety leadership is time consuming but so is monitoring the financial situation. Safety leadership is just as important and a part of any aviation business.
It does not have to be complex though; simple things like a short paragraph in the monthly safety newsletter, including a discussion about safety when meeting employees, talking up the safety record (or improvements to safety) at every opportunity, participating fully in the safety Committee meetings, ensuring safety is properly resourced, personally thanking a team or individual who makes a significant safety improvement. There are dozens of simple and effective ideas which can make a CEO or any manager into a safety leader. Remember though that in the final analysis, safety is all about people!
In my experience, safety leadership is not well understood by some senior managers in the aviation industry but it is really very important to ensure that the organization grows a great safety culture. Safety leaders are not just safety managers!
For more about this issue, see my book, “Safety Management without the Mumbo Jumbo” available in hard copy from my secure website. Click here to buy the hard copy. It is also available as an e-book from Palmer Higgs e-Bookshop. Click here to buy the E-book. The E-book is also available from www.Amazon.com and search in the kindle store for the title.
