Safety is a team sport at any company, but if you want to be successful you need a few champions on the team.
So what are safety champions? These are key managers and regular production workers who will lead the way in creating a safer workplace. They are people who have come to understand the importance of safety and will educate and encourage others to take the precautions necessary to avoid accidents.
Spotting a good safety champion takes a little time and focus. Identify people who naturally seem to “get it” when it comes to the importance of workplace safety. These are not people who you always have to force to follow the rules. They may even be reluctant at first. But they eventually come to accept it and point out issues that they notice. Good safety champions usually fall into one of a few groups.
Powerbrokers – These are people in upper management who have authority to make things happen and direct the course of corporate decision making. You will need some of these to push safety initiatives through corporate bureaucracy and to ensure lower-level workers that management is on board with the process.
Educators – These are people who naturally like to teach and train others at the shop. These may be managers or even production workers who will be good mentors for others. They know how to communicate. They can tell when people truly understand safety concepts or when they are just nodding because they don’t want to be embarrassed.
Influencers – These are the trend setters in your company. Every business has people who influence employee habits and attitudes. From how people dress to where they eat lunch to what technology they use. These are people who may or may not be in management, but others look to them for informal direction and advice.
Activators — These are the let’s get it done people who know how to make things happen. They will go out and get the safety equipment or resources. They may be in human resources or purchasing or office management. They have some level of purchasing authority to ensure that necessary supplies are obtained.
The Safety Guru – This is likely the safety director and is the person who is tasked to lead the safety effort.
A good safety champion program involves a team, and you should pull from various authority levels and departments within the company. This is a place where diversity truly matters because different work environments exist in the same plant. Somebody in the sawmill may not know what it is really like in the pallet manufacturing or truck loading area.
Here are some other criteria to consider when looking for safety champions. Except for a few safety gurus who have to participate as part of their job, look for eager volunteers. You don’t want to assign the task to reluctant employees who you have to drag into the process.
Look for people who walk the walk and will lead by example. Who is wearing personal protective equipment and following safety steps even when management is not looking? People who are safe 24/7 and have a meticulous nature can be good safety champions. But you don’t want the team made up completely of safety fanatics because this will not truly reflect your entire workforce.
People who take initiative and are encouraging can be great safety champions. Champions who are likeable will win more compliance by their influence than pestering. Good safety champions are fair and teachable. They are willing to learn and engage with new ideas and try new safety approaches. Also, good safety champions have taken the time to learn how to do things right and truly evaluate their own work environment and practices.
Many companies will invite and encourage safety champions to participate in safety committees. This can be a great way to brainstorm ideas and delegate tasks and compliance actions. They should meet on a regular basis and do more than just talk about safety. Action breeds awareness that safety is really important and not just another slogan that is ignored. In the safety committee everyone should have a right to speak and the rank should truly be minimized because the lowest-level employee may have the best idea. Everyone in the company should know who is on the committee and who their representative is.
A safety culture doesn’t come from corporate slogans and campaigns. It truly comes from safe employees who create a safety culture. You need buy-in from all aspects of the operation from the CEO to the line worker.
Safety champions are like great sports stars. They are never complacent, and they always know that they can improve. You must empower safety champions to speak and come up with quick solutions and help them execute those decisions, such as getting new supplies or ensuring that equipment is fixed or replaced. Many times employees are suspicious of safety inspections or safety champions. Remind workers that safety champions are their allies and not an informers responsible for discipline.
Safety champions must be trained in the latest safety practices including how to spot hazards and address them in a non-threatening manner for the line worker. And safety champions need to be reviewed too. Ask employees what they think of the safety champions in their area? Have these people been helpful? Do they listen to safety concerns and try to help solve them? You should evaluate your safety program and the effectiveness of your champions every year or so. You can do this with anonymous surveys or other methods where employees provide honest feedback.
While any effective safety program requires the participation of every person, it also can’t function without momentum from safety champions. These people are there when safety hazards arise. They daily can reinforce safety objectives and best practices. And they will let you know when things need to be addressed. So who are the safety champions at your facility? If you are not already using safety champions in your approach, you may want to start because they can truly make all the difference in the world.
