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Greetings!
Transformational or transactional? The safety leadership style your company chooses can mean the difference between becoming a world-class safety organization or a company producing consistently average results.
Transformational leadership is based upon the high-performance work system (HPWS) created by Peter Drucker. "His concepts turned companies away from treating employees simply as cogs (in a wheel), persuading management to think of workers as assets and partners" (USA Today). The transformational leader works with both the shop floor and corner office to obtain engagement, focusing on the work and the WORKER. "Engagement motivation focuses on getting people at each level aware of and connected to the safety processes of the organization, having them feel ownership and involvement and regularly engaging them in advancing safety improvement" (Krause).
Unlike Transformational leadership, leaders using the transactional approach are not looking to change the future, they are looking to merely keep things status quo(Wikipedia). Transactional leaders typically offer something in exchange for a behavior. Rewards and punishment are utilized to produce desired outcomes.
When an organization follows the path of transformational leadership they will benefit from "better safety results but also better business results, because the workers are totally engaged not only in safety, but in the entire work process" (Fulwiler). For example, when Cintas switched to a transformational leadership culture in 2006 they obtained not only substantial increases in safety but also in other critical business outputs (click here to view results).
While developing a culture of transformational leadership seems like a daunting task, it can be achieved. To learn more about where you fall on the transformational scale, please click here and scroll to the middle of the article. To learn more about how to implement transformational leadership at your organization, please e-mail safety@northampton.edu.
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IN THE NEWS
NCS 2012: Fall Protection Tops OSHA's List of Most Cited Violations for 2012
ehstoday.com
Fall protection, hazard communication and scaffolding violations once again fought for the top spots in OSHA's annual top 10 most frequently cited violations list.
<READ MORE>
Safety, Real-Time Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance Support Sustainability
sustainableplant.com
Ultimately, corporate sustainability goals and initiatives have to be translated into plant- and unit-specific action plans. And, just as important, local sustainability gains must be documented and communicated back to the boardroom. Sustainable Plant's 2012 "Sustainability Matters" webcast series will help you connect the dots from corporate goals to plant performance metrics - and back around again.
In Planning Emergency Strategies, Employers Should Think Outside the Box
tasco-safety.com
Emergency action plans are essential in any workplace. Just as public safety groups encourage families to come up with evacuation routes and meetup points to help in the event of a fire, break-in or other incident, employers need to devise these strategies for a number of scenarios, which in many cases are more complex than homeowners'. <READ MORE>
Ensure Workforce Readiness After a Disaster
shrm.org
The devastation wreaked by Hurricane Sandy reminds us that natural and manmade disasters can strike at any time. HR consultancy Mercer's 2012 Survey on Workforce Readiness: When Disaster Strikes, analyzed organizations' disaster plans and policies, focusing on how companies gathered information, disseminated it to affected employees, provided for them, and handled relocations and any other special tasks during disaster events in 2011. <READ MORE>
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UPCOMING TRAINING
CBI Safety Certificates Beginning in January 2013
Looking for a way to train employees on the economic value of safety or how to build a productive safety committee without having to commit to a full week away from the office or production floor? We have the solution. Our comprehensive Economics of Safety and Successful Safety Committee certificate workshops meet one day a month for five months in two hour sessions. The training also provides a platform to network and brainstorm with other health and safety professionals. Please contact Damian Dinan at 610-861-5064 or ddinan@northampton.edu to register, discuss pricing options for multiple employees and payment methods. <DOWNLOAD FLYER>
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 LEHIGH VALLEY SAFETY COMMITTEE (LVSC) Free Safety Events
January 22, 2013, 2:00pm
Planning meeting for May event
Location: Northampton Community College, Main Campus
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FREE SAFETY ASSESSMENTS
The Center for Business & Industry - Corporate & Public Safety provides free safety assessments that include a tour of your facility and a review of your safety practices to ensure the highest level of safety, performance and compliance are being implemented at your organization. Please note: the free assessment does not include documentation and is not regulatory. To find out more, please call
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SAFETY LINES
Tom Barnowski
Corporate & Public Safety Director
As the safety inspector entered the facility he began his search for the on-site supervisory personnel. After an extended search, he was eventually greeted by a grouchy foreman who clearly demonstrated his annoyance with the inspector's presence. With a discourteous attitude the foreman conveyed his "in- charge" presence as he scowled at the inspector throughout his inspection of the site. Upon conclusion of the violation revealing inspection, the inspector began another search for the seemingly absent foreman. Once he was found, the question of responsibility for the safety violations entered the heated discussion. With pointed finger in the direction of another supervisor, the foreman clearly indicated that while he was "in-charge" he was not responsible.
How can one be "in-charge" but not be responsible? It would appear that our litigious society has created a culture of deflection when it comes to responsibility. Clearly, the responsibility of leadership especially when it comes to implementation of workplace safety practices cannot be deflected. All workers have a vested interest in the safe outcomes associated with any workplace. All who occupy the same space have a duty to be safe while insisting that others perform similarly. The empowerment to work safely is a responsibility that all share.
As we enter the holiday season, there has never been a more appropriate time for leaders to lead the safety efforts within their respective facilities. There has never been a greater need for safety responsibility to be on the minds of all who share a common workplace. Leadership must set the example for all to follow. In these financially challenging times let's never forget that safety pays in the long run. Clearly, the responsible safety leader will provide the gift of an injury free workplace for this and all future holiday seasons.
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