Safety Training for Managers &

Supervisors
Accountability and Safety Culture –
Fundamentals
Part 1
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company's health and safety policies or to substitute for specific state and federal standards. We do not
guarantee the absolute accuracy of the material contained within these resources. Please refer to applicable
state and federal standards for regulatory compliance.

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 The Business Case for Safety
Humanitarian need
Regulatory compliance
Liability and cost control
Operational risk reduction
Improved productivity
“Valued neighbor”

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 Leadership – The Starting Point
Establish company values
Set and enforce company policies
Consistently demonstrate commitment
Be the “role model” for desired behavior
Communicate expectations
Create desired work culture
Stay on top of things, and follow up
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 The Four A’s
Attitude
Awareness
Action
Accountability

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 Safety Awareness Level

Incident Incident

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 Safety Awareness Level
What is your attitude toward safety?
Do your actions reflect a steady
awareness?

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 Management Responsibilities

Assume primary responsibility for the

safety program
Establish policies, goals, objectives and
measurements
Push authority and accountability down
to supervisor level

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 Manager Tips
Do you really hold your supervisors
accountable?
Supervisors will only perform to the level
they are measured:
 Tie accountability to incentives and performance
evaluations
 “Provide training on cost basis so they better
understand the direct and indirect costs” – Doyle
Weldon, roundtable member

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 Manager Tips
Peer pressure can leverage
accountability
“Measure supervisors amongst their
peers in a group setting” – David
Etchelecu, roundtable member

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 Supervisor Responsibilities
Know all safe work practices/rules
pertaining to his / her job
Accept responsibility to ensure the
application of safe work practices
 Explain all applicable safe work practices
 Ensure employees are trained and
competent

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 Supervisor Responsibilities
Consistently enforce safety regulations
Perform daily inspections of his/her
respective work
Report / correct unsafe conditions
Assist in incident investigations

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 Supervisor Responsibilities
Support management and employees in
their efforts to establish a proactive safety
culture
 Be familiar with laws, directives and policies
mandated by the company and customers,
OSHA and other regulatory agencies
 Be visible to your employees

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 Supervisor Tips
Review policies and procedures, and make
sure you understand
 Freely ask questions of management for
clarity
“Do it once instead of twice – it can cost 125%
more”- Bill Flynt, roundtable member
 Lose production
 Lose efficiency
 Lose customer rapport

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 Communicate Responsibilities
to Your Employees
Do you understand that safety is a condition of
employment?
 Work safely to the best of his / her ability
 Report unsafe conditions immediately
 Obey safe work rules, and follow safety
instructions
Do you understand your safety responsibilities?

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 Communicate Responsibilities
to Your Employees
Regardless of the type of work you are doing,
do you know that you can never deviate from
an established safe work procedure?
Do you know you have the right to discuss any
work assignment with your supervisor that you
think is unsafe or you are unsure of?
 Assist in correcting the problem
Do I have your complete commitment to work
safely at all times?

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 Who Should Be Held Accountable?
Managers and supervisors
Employees
 Pay attention to employees who deviate from
known safe work procedures either before,
during or after completion of their assigned
tasks

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 Accountability: Intervention
Whenever an employee is behaving in an
unsafe or unhealthy way, supervisors have a
moral and legal obligation to intervene
immediately
 The employee may get hurt
 If the employee knows the supervisor has seen
the unsafe behavior and has not intervened, the
employee (and everyone else watching) will think
the supervisor does not regard working safely as
essential

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 Accountability: Intervention
Intervention should accomplish several goals:
 Stop an unsafe act before it leads to an incident or
illness
 Replace an unsafe behavior with a safe one
 Help employees learn to make better choices about
working safely

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 Supervisor Tips
Key steps in performing an effective
intervention:
 Point out the unsafe behavior
 Get the employee to acknowledge the unsafe
behavior
 Get the employee to suggest proper safe
behavior

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 Supervisor Tips
Key steps in performing an effective
intervention:
 Have the employee explain the risks of
working unsafely
 Get the employee to agree that the gains
were not worth the consequences
 Establish a formal action plan for
improvements
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Accountability: Positive Reinforcement
Reinforcing safe work habits is just as
important as eliminating unsafe behavior
 Most people tend to repeat behaviors that
result in positive consequences and
discontinue those that result in negative
consequences
 Positive reinforcement is the only means
available to maintain existing good behavior

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Accountability: Positive Reinforcement
There are several ways in which
supervisors can reward safe behavior
 Verbal acknowledgment
 Public praise
 Material rewards

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 Accountability: Disciplinary Actions
Keys to Success
 Be consistent and unbiased
 Evaluate the frequency and severity of the
act
 Approach employee with his or her best
interests in mind
 Remind employee about external effects of
incidents

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 Supervisor Tips
How do you communicate with your
employees?
 You will get less mileage if you yell and
shout at your employees when you spot
unsafe behaviors
 “Don’t automatically draw conclusions”-
Rick Webb, roundtable member

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 Creating a Culture

How do we define a culture?

 A common set of attitudes, values and
beliefs shared by an organization
 The way things are around here

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 More Than a Regulation
By developing a strong safety culture,
we ultimately create an environment
where each employee becomes
responsible for their safety and the
safety of their fellow employees

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 Safety Culture Benefits
Unsafe behavior stands out
Unsafe behavior is unacceptable
Safe work is influenced through peer
pressure
Consistent planning and task execution
Cost avoidance

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 Common Beliefs
Safe work cultures start with simple, common
beliefs that are supported by all employees in an
organization
 Every incident could have been avoided
 No job is worth getting hurt over
 Every job will be done safely
 Most importantly, we believe that safety is
everyone’s responsibility
 “I am my brother’s keeper” – Joann Natarajan,
roundtable member

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 Safety Program Fundamentals
A safety culture is built through the
establishment of a fundamentally sound
safety program
 Management commitment
 Policy statement
 Program goals
 Employee recognition
 Employee training
 Hazard analysis / correction
 Behavior-based safety
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 Supervisor Role in a Safety Culture
Task planning
Employee education
Enforcement
Leadership by example
Clear communication

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 Safety Culture:
What it Isn’t
Created in the absence of visible
leadership
Exclusive
Created by mandate
A regulatory requirement
Created in a short time
Created with little effort
31 Maintenance-free
 Transforming a Safety Culture

Who does it start with?

Everyone, including
You
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 Signs of a Safety Culture
Management leading by example
Reduced injury rates
Changes in employees’ attitudes
regarding safety

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 Signs of a Safety Culture
Heightened participation by
employees in safety meetings
More conversations regarding safety
Employees adhering to safe work
practices in the absence of the
supervisor

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 How Can We Get There?

Long-term achievement is a product

of day-to-day effort

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 Safety Culture
Asking me to overlook a simple safety
violation would be asking me to
compromise my attitude toward the
value of your life

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 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Management responsibilities do not
include assuming primary responsibility
for the safety program.
A: False

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 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Supervisor responsibilities include
ensuring the application of safe work
practices.
A: True

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 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Safety is a condition of employment.
A: True

39
 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Regardless of the type of work you
are doing, you can deviate from an
established safe work procedure if you
want to.
A: False

40
 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Managers, supervisors and
employees should all be held
accountable.
A: True

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 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Reinforcing safe work habits is just as
important as eliminating unsafe behavior.
A: True

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 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: A safety culture is a regulatory
requirement.
A: False

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 Quiz
All Questions True or False
Q: Everyone adhering to safe work
practices in the absence of the supervisor
is a sign of a safety culture.
A: True

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 Safety
Safety has no final destination………

….. It is a constant journey

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 Resources
 Safety Pays:
http://osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/safetypays/in
dex.html
Stop Work Card
Behavior-Based Safety

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 Lower Incidents

No one gets hurt at work

through LOWER* incidents

*(Limiting Oilfield Workers'

Exposures and Risks)

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