We hear it time and time again, "If we could get Senior Management's support for our safety program we could really improve things around here." Safety practitioners replicate this statement over and over, leading to a variety but predicable responses by the practitioner. These responses traditionally include: restating the problem in a more convincing manner, warning of do nothing costs, threatening to leave employment, attempts at improvement without senior level commitment, or total disengagement from the process. Each of these are natural responses but rarely positively influences the safety practitioner's goal of fully gaining senior management's support and commitment. Is there another tactic that can be used? Can we as safety practitioners help create a safety hero at the top of the organization? Here we will focus on this dilemma that is often played out and continues to frustrate many in the safety profession. However with success the safety practitioner can elevate the perception of their value to the organization in the eyes of the senior leadership team from simply a safety cheerleader to a valuable resource that can contribute intellectual capital to improving the business results.
Lets be honest, the number one reason that companies exist today and senior leaders have their jobs is to MAKE MONEY, plain and simple. Rather we choose to accept the fact, safety is never the number one priority of business' today, its to make money and satisfy company owners, capital investors, or the stock market by showing positive earnings on a regular and routine basis. Generally, a senior executive is interested in safety and health excellence only to the point that it influences profitability. The quality senior executive is looking for the ROI (return on investment). You show them a problem and they typically consider solutions from one perspective, ROI.
A medium size manufacturing company executive was asked if 120 injuries annually with a total pay out of approximately $1.2 million dollars was an acceptable cost of doing business. His answer was yes in light of the effort needed to correct the problems. Business was good and no need to re-deploy any of his resources away from his profitable operations to address such a meaningless expense. A frustrating answer but a honest response.
As safety professionals we must never give up devising strategies of influence that counteract this type of attitude and turn the senior executive into a safety hero for the organization.
For a number of years the behavioral psychologist have suggested that a meaningful and sustained improvement must start with a true focus on achieving things rather than avoiding failure. We have all heard it but have we taken this advice in a practical way and applied the concept to our jobs? Our attempts to drive improvement continue to be largely done by tracking, presenting, discussing, debating, and analyzing our failures. We routinely track OSHA recordable injuries, out of pocket injury costs, workers' compensation costs, lost workdays, restrictive workdays, etc.
