Transformational Safety and Health

Leadership

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John L. Henshaw, MPH, CIH Senior Vice President – Managing Principal IH and Safety, ChemRisk, LLCFormer Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) 2001-2004April 28, 2011

Mid-Atlantic Safety and Health Conference

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This year’s theme for the day is “Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Management System: A tool for continual improvement”.

ILO data, an estimated 337 million workplace accidents and 2.3 million deaths occur per year, or some 6,300 deaths every day.

ILO - OSH management systems can make a difference.

World Day for Safety and Health at Work - April 28

OSH Management system: A tool for continual improvement

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• OSHA established on April 28, 1971• OSHA, state partners, employers, safety and health

professionals, unions and advocates • Workplace Fatalities –

• 14,000 in 1970• 4,340 in (2009

• Employment >130M - >7.2M worksites• Rate serious injuries and illnesses

• 11 per 100 workers in 1972 • 3.6 per 100 workers in 2009

• Still 12 workplace fatalities each day• Still 3.3M serious injuries/illnesses each year

65%

Number of Safety and Health Professionals, 1938-2009

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

AIHA ASSE ACGIH

Year

Me

mb

ers

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1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2009

Total 592 632 816 1331 2277 3271 5329 6058 6239 6596

Outside US 28 28 20 33 127 235 380 415 430 553

500

1500

2500

3500

4500

5500

65006596

553

# P

ract

icin

g C

IHs

Source: ABIH May 2010

Practicing Certified Industrial Hygienist World-Wide and Outside U.S. (via mailing address)

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Four Phases of Safety and Health Improvement

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0123456789

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OS

HA

TIR

Time

SafetyAwareness

Compliance ManagementOwnership

Full EmployeeOwnership

Engagement

Transformational

Transactional

FatalitiesFatalities

The behavior (actions/no action) of every individual in an organization influences culture

and outcomes

ConditionsEquipment/ Systems

BehaviorsChief Executive Office

Senior ExecutiveManager

SupervisorCo-workerEmployee

Loss TimeLoss Time

RecordableRecordable

First AidFirst Aid

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Transformational Leadership

The fundamental difference between transactional leadership (TAL) and transformational leadership (TFL) is:

• TAL focuses primarily on the work

• TFL focuses on BOTH the work and the worker

Peter Drucker

“His concepts turned companies away from treating employees as cogs, persuading management to think of workers as assets and partners – which is how the best companies behave today.”

USA Today, 11/06

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Managers vs. Leaders

• Go by the numbers

• Emphasize training

• Speak first, then listen

• Strive for compliance

• Lean on mandates

• Live by measurements

• Focus on activities

• Emphasize education

• Listen first, then speak

• Offer opportunities

• Emphasize expectations

• Don’t measure everything

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Managers… Leaders…

Source: Scott Geller (2005), “People-Based Safety”

Man

agem

ent L

eadersh

ip

Adapted from Tosti and Jackson, Vanguard Consulting

Organization

Behaviors

Goals Vision / Values

Mfg/Service Engagement

Tasks Practices

Job-focused Employee-

focused

Functional Cultural

Zero Injuries

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“Individuals perform best when they are respected, valued and trusted by someone who genuinely cares for their well-being.”

Heroic Leadership, Chris Lowney

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Transactional Leadership…

• …is not bad leadership, in fact transformational leadership includes the “focus on work” aspect but in addition it focuses also on the worker.

• As with so many leadership characteristics the concept of BALANCE comes into play.

• Transactional leadership will not maximize/optimize the contributions of the work force.

Transactional vs. Transformational

“Transactional leadership is not concerned with stimulating change in individuals. Instead, it views leadership as a transaction between leader and follower.”

“Transformational leadership is the idea that leaders can help transform organizations, as well as individuals – from one level to another – to produce significant positive change.”

Kenneth Jones, Ph.D.

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Transactional Leaders• A quid pro quo relationship between the worker

and leader• Task oriented

– e.g. regulatory compliance

• Preserves existing culture, conditions and practices– i.e. preserves the status quo

• Likely to focus more on the WORK than the WORKER

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Transformational Leaders• Results in the worker’s values aligning with their

leader’s values• Empowers the worker to engage in the work

process– e.g. go beyond their self interest

• The leader is personally engaged with the worker– i.e. the leader CARES about the worker

• Focuses on both the WORK and the WORKER

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Transformational leadership can impact:

• Safety• Health• Quality• Productivity• Customer satisfaction• Other

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On becoming more transformational

Three overarching attributes:

• Listening – a skill

• Caring – an attitude >> behavior

• Enthusiasm & Passion - observable

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WHY LISTEN?

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” (Covey)

• To build relationships• To “make the sale”• To resolve conflicts• To negotiate successfully• To show you care• To build trust/establish credibility

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Transformational Leaders Care

• “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

• Empathy is critical to the caring process.–“Walk a mile in their moccasins.”–“I feel your pain.”

• “You see how they see it, you feel how they feel it.”

Covey

Leadership

“The hard stuff is easy;

it’s the soft stuff that’s hard.”

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Fred Smith, CEOFederal Express

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P. 28: The five personality traits

P. 43: The four style characteristics

P. 48: The seven leadership best practices

Characteristics of a

Transformational Leader •Challenging •Engaging • Inspiring • Influencing

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Employee Engagement

=

Transformational Leadership

in Action

Best Practices Transformational Safety and Health Leader

1. Vision

2. Credibility3. Action Orientation

4. Collaboration

5. Communication

6. Recognition and Feedback7. Accountability

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Source: Krause, T.R. (2005) “Leading With Safety”

Vision

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1. Acts in a way that communicates high personal standards in safety

2. Helps employees question and rethink their assumptions about safety

3. Communicates the organizational vision through word and action

Vision (continued)

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4. Demonstrates willingness to consider and accept new ideas

5. Helps employees consider the impact of their actions on the safety of others, and on the organization’s safety culture

6. Challenges and inspires employees around the safety vision and values

7. Describes a compelling picture of what the future could be

Collaboration1. Promotes cooperation and collaboration in safety

2. Asks for and encourages input from employees on issues that will effect them

3. Helps employees resolve safety-related problems for themselves

4. Encourages employees to implement their decisions and solutions for improving safety

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Collaboration (continued)

5. Seeks out and listens to diverse points of view

6. Expresses confidence in the ability of employees

7. Supports the decisions that employee make on their own

8. Gains commitment of employees before implementing changes

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“The closest thing to magic in organizational change is getting employees excited about what is going on. And the most effective way to do this is to involve them, to give them actual responsibilities in making the mechanisms and processes work.”

T.R. Krause

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* Feedback and Recognition

1. Publicly recognizes contributions of employees

2. Readily recognizes employees for safety work well done

3. Praises safety efforts more often than criticizes them

4. Gives positive feedback and recognition for good performance

5. Finds ways to celebrate accomplishments in safety

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Safety and Health Leadership - Best Practices Transformational /Transactional

1. Vision

2. Credibility

3. Action Orientation

4. Collaboration

5. Communication

6. Recognition and Feedback

7. Accountability

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Source: Krause, T.R. (2005) “Leading With Safety”

Leadership is…• Situational• Contextual• Behavioral

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Therefore one can improve one’s ability and impact as a leader.

High Performance Work SystemEngagement Model

Transactional Transformational

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