5 Qualities That Make a Safety Leader Successful

A strong safety culture depends on dedicated leaders. They are the people who spearhead the fight for a safer work environment. A good safety leader isn’t shy about bringing concerns to the attention of their superiors or about encouraging others to do their part to keep themselves and others safe.

Many safety leaders are safety professionals and hold titles like safety manager or EHS specialist. But anyone can lead the way when it comes to safety—shift supervisors, production managers, and even frontline workers can all be safety leaders. It’s the following five qualities and not the job title that allows someone to lead the way when it comes to health and safety:-

• Identify the Naturals

Some employees are naturally inclined toward safety leadership. Identify these individuals and empower them to develop their leadership roles. Look for the employees who have the best safety records and observe how they interact with their peers. They might provide gentle reminders to wear safety gear or offer advice about safer ways to do specific procedures.

• A positive attitude towards safety 

Interestingly, companies with supervisors that believe that workplace deaths are an inevitable part of doing business, almost always have more fatalities than other companies who don't believe that. Just having a positive attitude towards safety means that workplace health & safety training will be useful for you.

• Be interesting and engaging

The most interesting people you meet are the ones who spend time learning about you. You become interesting the moment you become interested - in them. Treat the person in front of you as the most important person in your life at that moment, and make them feel it. Don’t just present the rules. Make them feel that they matter. 

• Dealing with difficult workers 

Other workers will judge you on how you deal with difficult employees, so you need to do it effectively. That can be challenging, especially where safety issues are concerned. Tackle safety issues as soon as possible, use documented evidence, like an employee’s safety record when pointing out bad behavior, and have a plan for correcting the wrong safety behavior.

• Situational Leadership

The ability to adapt the style of leadership used to the situation at hand is something leaders don’t always get right. People have different characters, different emotional reactions to situations, and behave differently depending on a situation or person. Leaders specifically need to know when a command and control style is appropriate and when it isn’t. They need to know when they could be coaching or when they could be democratic.