Delivering Messages to Your Board in a Way That Will Ensure They Will Listen

OSH professionals are often technically competent but not always able to communicate well with their directors or influence them. This paper discusses how OSH professionals can persuade management to focus on health and safety. It highlights the skills they might need to learn to do so. It covers the need to make functional alliances, to learn the right influencing style and to communicate in a multi directional way to suit different audiences. The important role of leadership in the improvement of safety culture is discussed and other areas, where the OSH practitioner can have an important role, such as the wellbeing agenda and in maintaining the organisation's reputation.