Leadership and Sharing Values. Does your Behaviour Demonstrate your Commitment to Safety?

SPE HSE Stavanger, June 2000

Leadership and Sharing Values.Does your Behaviour Demonstrate

your Commitment to Safety?

Professor Rhona FlinIndustrial Psychology Group

University of Aberdeen

Flin, SPE HSE Stavanger, June 2000

HIGH RELIABILITY ORGANISATIONS


ORGANISATIONAL SAFETY

In High Reliability Organisations:

70 - 80% of accident causation = human (non-technical) factors


ORGANISATIONAL SAFETY

HUMANFACTORSCAUSES

SAFETYCULTURE

OPERATORERROR

(80%) (20%)


?

What determines the safety culture?


HSE, 1999


Organisational factors associated with a safety culture (HSE, 1999)

• Senior management commitment• Management style• Visible management• Good communication between all levels of

employee [management action]• A balance of health and safety and production

goals [management prioritisation]


NASA Medical Operations Branch

“Actions taken by ground control and management affect [astronauts’] mental health and well being as much as, or more than, the individual's psychological make up or the space environment.”(Holland, 1998)


Herald of Free Enterprise


Herald of Free Enterprise

• “But a full investigation into the circumstances of the disaster leads inexorably to the conclusion that the underlying or cardinal faults lay higher up in the company…….

• From top to bottom the body corporate was infected with the disease of sloppiness.”(Sheen, 1987, p14)


Piper Alpha


Piper Alpha

‘No amount of detailed regulations for safety improvements could make up for the way that safety is managed by operators.’

(Cullen, 1990)


Which Managers?

• Senior Managers?• Site Managers?• Supervisors / Team Leaders?


Which one of these Management Levelswould you focus on?

• Senior Managers?• Site Managers?• Supervisors/ Team leaders?(200 power generation managers - May 2000, Electricity Association)


Which one of these Management Levels would you focus your attention on to achievemaximum safety impact? (200 managers)

47

11

42Senior Managers

Site Managers

Supervisors / Team Leaders

Œ

Ž


Organisational factors associated with a safety culture (HSE, 1999)

“Senior Management Commitment - crucial to a positive health and safety culture. It is best indicated by the proportion of resources (time, money, people) and support allocated to health and safety management and by the status given to health and safety” (p 46).


UKCS Oil and Gas Industry ‘98

“Senior managers show a lack of commitment to health and safety” - 69% disagree

“Senior managers are genuinely concerned about H&S of the workforce - 57% agree

(Workforce Survey (Mearns, Flin et al 1998) - Aggregate data from 13 companies)


How Do Senior Managers Get it Wrong?

• “Men Behaving Badly?”• Sending the wrong signals by their:

– language– behaviour– priorities– time allocation


TIME

‘Time is money’ (Benjamin Franklin)so

ARE YOU MAKING TIME FOR SAFETY?To demonstrate your safety commitment


TIME

The most valuable resource for safety

“Take your time”“Time-out for safety”

“Time to listen to safety concerns”“Time to spend at the worksite”


• ‘But there always seemed to be something more pressing.’


Barings Bank

‘But there always seemed to be something more pressing.’

(Group Treasurer Barings International Bank, 1995)


Safety Leadership

“There is no reason to suppose that leadership to improve safety is any different in principle from leadership to increase productivity or enhance job satisfaction. However, it may require a distinctive blend of behaviours because of its relatively low intrinsic interest to the workforce”.(ASCSNI, Nuclear Industry, 1993)


Nuclear Industry: Safety Culture

‘On a personal basis, managers at the most senior level demonstrate their commitment by their attention to regular review of the processes that bear on nuclear safety, by taking direct interest in the more significant questions of nuclear safety or product quality as they arise, and by frequent citation of the importance of safety and quality in communications to staff.’

(International Atomic Energy Authority, 1997)


Management Style of the Alpha Male?


Management Style for Safety?

A ‘humanistic’ approach to management involving more regard by managers for individuals’ personal and work problems is likely to be effective”. (HSE, 1999)

Transformational leadership (Bass)(See paper by O’Dea on OIMs’ leadership styles this conf.)


Managing the Safety Culture

• Safety culture is determined by perceptions of management commitment to safety

• Commitment as judged by subordinates • Necessary to measure how managers’

commitment is perceiveda) by the workforce - safety climate surveyb) by their direct reports - upward appraisal


Safety Leadership - Shell Expro

• Workshop for 70 directors / asset managers• Upward appraisal questionnaire on safety commitment and

safety leadership style• Each manager’s views plus views of five managers below him• Confidential, personal report to each senior manager• Summary data presented to whole group• Frank discussion of whether senior managers communicate

consistent messages about safety commitment


Safety Leadership - Shell Expro

• Reflection on their own safety attitudes, prioritisation of safety, leadership style

• Knowledge of subordinates’ perceptions• Degree of match• Degree of consistency• Positive response from managers with

actions for changing their own behaviours


How to Share Values

• Perceptions are more influential than ‘reality’• Judged on perceived values/ priorities

• More than knowing the ‘safety script’

• Require demonstrations of commitment• Highlighted to attract attention

Leadership and Sharing Values. Does your Behaviour Demonstrate your Commitment to Safety?

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