Successful
top managers use a variety of techniques that
visibly involve them in the safety and health
protection of their workers. Look for methods
that fit your style and your worksite. These
methods generally can be classified as:
- Getting
out where you can be seen,
- Being
accessible
- Being
an example, and
- Taking
charge.
GETTING
OUT WHERE YOU CAN BE SEEN
In
recent years, we often hear the phrase "management
by walking around." This describes a manager
who frequents all parts of the operation, getting
to know the people who make it happen, and seeing
firsthand what is working well and what isn't.
This can succeed not only as a tool for management
but also as a message to employees. Employees
who see the manager "walking around"
likely will come to believe that he/she cares
about what they are doing and how well they
are doing it. And when they see that certain
areas -- like safety and health -- interest
the top brass, they become more aware of these
areas.
In
the area of worker safety and health, this style
of management can be demonstrated either informally
or formally.
Informal
Action. A manager who stops to get hazardous
conditions or practices corrected as he/she
walks through operations areas impresses workers
with the importance of health and safety. As
you conduct your walk-around be particularly
aware of short cuts in safe work procedures
that are being taken to speed production. The
involved manager knows that short cuts that
cancel safety and health precautions are a form
of Russian roulette. It is only a matter of
time until an employee and the company get hurt.
No
worker or supervisor wants to have the top manager
stop the work until it can be done correctly.
Consequently, this kind of informal involvement
is a strong inducement for your employees to
do the job right the first time.
If
you also stop occasionally to compliment workers
on how well they are following safe work procedures,
you can expect your comments to have a strong
positive influence on the desired behavior.
This
type of involvement should be a fairly routine
occurrence. If it happens only "once in
a blue moon," it will not have significant
impact. It only works for managers who are out
in operational areas several times a week (if
not several times every day). This informal
style is particularly well-suited for the small
business where the owner/manager, of necessity,
spends considerable time in the operations areas.
To
catch and correct hazards, you also must have
a thorough knowledge of what is safe and healthful.
A top manager who lacks expertise or is unsure
of his/her knowledge should not try to interfere
with lower level managers and supervisors who
do possess shop safety expertise.
Formal
Inspections. A more formal method of getting
out where you can be seen is to conduct surprise
inspections. These inspections must occur often
enough to make a difference. Housekeeping inspections
are the variety most commonly performed by top
managers, possible because the plant or site
manager need not be a safety or health expert
to spot housekeeping violations or problems.
However, such inspections do not merely provide
an opportunity for management visibility: good
housekeeping contributes significantly to safe
and healthful conditions.
Some
managers give positive or negative points during
these inspections and aware prizes or a rotating
trophy to the department that does the best.
A
plant or site manager can accomplish much the
same result by unexpectedly accompanying the
safety committee or safety and health professional
during a regularly scheduled inspection. Again,
the element of surprise and the frequency of
the manager's involvement are important.
For
additional information and useful inspection
tools, see Chapter 8 and OSHA Publication 2209
(Revised 1990), "OSHA Handbook for Small
Businesses."
BEING
ACCESSIBLE
If
you can "manage by walking around,"
you will find many opportunities to listen and
respond to employee questions and comments.
But even if your duties prevent you from spending
much time in the site's operations areas, you
still can make yourself available to your employees
through more formal systems. Take care, however,
that your involvement does not undercut the
authority of the managers and supervisors you
have given primary responsibility for ensuring
safety and health. Being accessible means walking
a careful line between encouraging employees
to use that access and interfering with their
normal relationships and responsibilities. Appendix
3-1 at the end of this chapter offers tips on
achieving this necessary balance.
Informal
"Instant" Access. Again, this
informal method is well-suited to the small
business owner/manager. If you get into operations
areas frequently, encourage your employees to
speak up about problems they see interfering
with getting the work done in a safe and healthful
manner. (Obviously, you need not focus only
on safety and health.) Take their concerns and
questions seriously and make sure they get timely
and appropriate responses. In return, your employees
will continue to let you know what is troubling
them.
Open
Door Policy. If your managerial work keeps
you in your office, an "open door"
policy might be a good choice for you. Your
office door must actually remain open, either
continually or during regularly scheduled and
well‑communicated time periods. This technique
may not work for managers who must have frequent
closed-door meetings. Employees should be encouraged
to drop by and discuss their safety and concerns,
without fear of reprisal, if they could not
get satisfactory answers through normal supervisory
channels. (See Appendix 3-1 for a discussion
of "Walking the Fine Line."
Employees
should not be required to make an appointment.
That will discourage all but the most determined.
Remember, you want to make this a casual, informal
tool so that everyone will feel comfortable
with it. Chances are once employees test your
policy and word gets around that your door really
is open, employees will not make frequent use
of this access if your other systems are working
well. Consequently, you need not be concerned
about frequent visits that could disrupt your
other duties. (See Chapters 4 and 8.)
The
Bypass Meeting. If you cannot spend much
time in operations areas, and your need for
private meetings preclude an open door, you
can schedule periodic bypass meetings. Here
the top manager and hourly employees bypass
middle-level personnel and talk directly to
one another. These meetings are usually open
for any questions, comments or concerns that
employees may have, but they are particularly
useful as a forum for health and safety issues.
The size of the group probably should not exceed
200, so in larger businesses more than one meeting
may be required to hear all employees. Some
top managers choose to hold a separate bypass
meeting with first-line supervisors and other
managers with whom they do not regularly interact.
You may need to try various group sizes before
finding the one that best fits your style.
The
success of a bypass meeting will depend on you,
the top official at the worksite: whether you
create a climate where employees feel free to
speak up and how you handle the questions they
raise. Treat all questions with respect, even
if, from your perspective, the answer seems
simple or the concern unwarranted. Try to imagine
how the situation looks to the employee. Take
the time to give a clear explanation. When you
don't know the answer to a question, or when
you need to know more about the circumstances
surrounding an issue, don't be afraid to say
so. Be sure, however, that you follow up thoroughly
and that all employees who attended the meeting
see or hear your response.
The
Birthday Lunch. This is another, more personal
version of the bypass meeting. The plant or
site manager provides a lunch for all employees
with a birthday during a given period. This
kind of meeting usually works best when you
keep it small (approximately 20 participants),
but you may want to experiment with size. By
grouping people by birthdate you get a reasonable
random selection of employees from all parts
of the worksite.
Try
to steer the conversation to questions or concern
that your employees may have. In a small group
such as this some people may be frightened to
speak up about perceived problems. Aim for a
warm atmosphere that encourages a frank exchange.
Otherwise, most of the suggestions for a successful
bypass meeting also will hold true for the birthday
lunch.
BEING
AN EXAMPLE
Providing
a good example is one of the most important
ways management can become visibly involved
in safety and health.
Following
the Rules. Make sure you know all the rules
that employees are expected to follow. Then
make sure you and your subordinate managers
follow them scrupulously. Your workplace may
have some rules that apply only to people who
will be working with specified equipment. To
the extent practical, you and your managers
should follow these rules also, even if you
are just visiting for a few minutes and will
not be working directly with the equipment.
Setting
an Example for Supervisors. If you see an
infraction of the rules or safe work practices,
never let it go uncorrected. Your insistence
on working in a safe and healthful manner will
be a model for your supervisors.
TAKING
CHARGE
Make
it clear to everyone that you are in charge
of ensuring that your site is a safe and healthful
place to work. One technique widely used in
the chemical industry is for the site manager
to chair the central safety committee. But taking
charge of safety and health protection also
means holding your subordinate managers and
supervisors accountable. And it means insisting
that any contract work at your site be done
in a safe and healthful manner.
Chairing
the Central Safety and Health Committee.
In its usual form the central committee is made
up of the worksite executive staff. At some
sites, hourly employees occupy two or three
positions. Employee membership can be rotated
throughout the hourly workforce to provide maximum
training and awareness experience.
By
chairing this committee, attending regularly
and participating actively, you show your subordinate
managers and employees that you are taking charge
of safety and health protection. The committee,
of course, must have serious tasks to accomplish,
and it should meet at least monthly.
You
should not confuse the central safety and health
committee with a joint employee-management committee.
For information on the latter, see Chapter 4.
Insisting
on Accountability. Whatever your workplace's
formal system of accountability, your employees
will watch you for clues to what is important.
If you never raise the subject of safety and
health with your managers, they eventually will
assume that you don't care. Therefore, it is
particularly important for you to insist that
managers and supervisors all up and down the
line both carry out their own responsibilities
and require employees to follow safe work practices.
For a more detailed look at safety and health
accountability, see Chapter 11.
Ensuring
Safe and Healthful Contract Work. The actions
of contract workers can have an adverse impact
on the safety and health of everyone at the
site. Where contract workers and your own employees
are intermingled, any unsafe practices or conditions
of contract work will jeopardize your own employees.
But even if contract workers are removed somewhat
from your normal operations, your employees
will benefit from knowing that you insist on
good safety and health practices and protection
for every worker at your worksite.
Bidding
Process. You should insist that all potential
contractors meet certain requirements as a qualification
for bidding on your work:
- The
contractor must have an acceptable level of
experience modifier rate (EMR) set by the
company's insurer.
- The
contractor must have an implemented safety
and health program.
You
or your agent should instruct all bidders to
include in their costs any expenses necessary
to meet OSHA standards and the rules of your
worksite. Make sure potential contractors understand
that you intend these precautions to be fully
met.
Take
special care with the company with no known
experience. It may have gone by another name
last year. There usually is a good reason for
a name change, and it probably does not bode
well for the performance you can expect.
Contract
Language. The contract you use should spell
out precisely what you expect of the contractor's
safety and health program management. If the
contractor's
work involves potential hazards to your workers
and/or the community, then the skill, education
and experience requirements for the contractor's
employees should be specified. If you expect
them to go beyond OSHA standards in certain
areas, such as fall protection on a construction
contract, then the contract should so state.
The following requirements are frequently specified
in contracts:
- Employee
safety and health orientation and periodic
safety and health training/meetings.
- A
formally established relationship with a physician
and contractor employees at the site who are
trained in first aid;
- Regular
safety inspections and, where applicable,
industrial hygiene monitoring, with discovered
hazards to be corrected promptly; and
- An
appropriately trained safety and health coordinator.
There
also should be specific language in the contract
giving your agent the right to:
- Monitor
safety and health activities,
- Investigate
contractor accidents/incidents,
- Require
that any worker who continues to violate safe
work practices be removed from the site, and
- Remove
the contract company from the site if the
requirements of the contract are not being
met.
Further,
the contract should require that your agent
be informed of all chemicals or other hazardous
substances the contractor intends to bring onto
the worksite.
Monitoring
Contract Work. Your routine general inspections
should include those locations where contract
work is being performed. Unsafe work or work
violating any part of the contract should be
halted and corrected through the appropriate
supervisor, if possible. Your agent should check
to make sure that contract employees are informed,
not only about serious hazards to which they
potentially may be exposed at your site, but
also about hazards to which their own company's
work may expose them. Obviously, your own employees
also will need to know about, and be prepared
to protect themselves against, any hazards associated
with the contracted work.
Arrange
to include the contract employees in evacuation
and other emergency drills. (You should also
make plans for handling vendor employees and
visitors to the site.) For more information,
see Chapter 7 and OSHA Publication 3088 (Revised
1991), "How to Prepare for Workplace Emergencies."
Follow
Through. Use the safeguards that you put
into the contract. If you discover inexperienced
laborers being assigned to work that involves
significant hazards, despite repeated warnings
and the contract clause requiring training,
cancel the work and reopen bids. It may cost
you some time, but that cost is insignificant
compared to the potential loss of time, money
and lives if an unqualified contract worker
makes the wrong moves.
If,
after being corrected and cautioned, certain
workers continue to violate safe work practices,
remove these workers from the site. If a contract
company continues to violate rules or refuses
to make corrections, then close the contract.
You have the power and obligation to ensure
safe and healthful conditions at your worksite.
Let
it be known throughout your community that at
your place of business only safe and healthful
work is acceptable. Eventually, you will find
that contract companies willing to insist on
safe and healthful work also will be the most
efficient and cost effective.
SUMMARY
As
the owner or top manager at a worksite, your
visible commitment to safety and health can
make a major difference in the quality of worker
protection. You can choose among a variety of
formal and informal methods and styles for achieving
this impact. Small businesses are probably better
suited for the more informal approaches.
Prove
to everyone in your company that you are vitally
interested in worker safety and health. Do this
by making yourself accessible: encourage your
employees to speak up about safety and health,
listen carefully, and then follow through. Set
a good example: follow the rules, make time
to carry out your safety and health responsibilities,
and insist that your managers and supervisors
do the same. Make sure everyone understands
that you are in charge of a business where safety
and health will not be compromised and where
hazard awareness and safe work practices are
expected of everyone, including on site contractors
and their workers.
APPENDIX
3-1
WALKING
THE FINE LINE
If
you are the owner or top manager of a business,
you have delegated certain responsibilities
to other worksite managers and supervisors.
You want to avoid undercutting their authority
since that would interfere with their ability
to carry out those responsibilities. Simultaneously,
you want to show your own commitment to reducing
safety and health hazards and protecting your
work force. How do you walk this fine line?
- Put
a complete safety and health program in place.
- Hold
your managers and supervisors strictly accountable.
- Encourage
employees to use the routine systems afforded
to them by the safety and health program.
- Forge
a partnership with your managers and supervisors
that encourages employees to speak out and
use the system.
COMPLETE
SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAM
Each
method you use to improve workplace safety and
health protection will work even better if complemented
by the other techniques of good management.
While the chapters of this manual separate safety
and health program management into component
parts, a functioning program is the sum of all
those parts. Therefore, it would be a mistake
to allow managers to pick and choose, using
some program parts and not the rest.
This
manual describes ways to implement OSHA's Safety
and Health Program Management Guidelines. If
you are setting up some version of what is described
in all 12 chapters, you are probably providing
a complete program. If you have any doubt, refer
to Chapter 1 which provides the full text of
the Guidelines and summary of what each part
means.
In
providing a complete safety and health program,
you give your entire work force -- managers,
supervisors, and rank and file employees --
the tools they need to work with you in keeping
the worksite safe and healthful. A complete
program addresses the needs and responsibilities
of all employees.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Managers
and supervisors held accountable for their safety
and health responsibilities are more likely
to press for solutions to safety and health
problems than to present barriers to problem
resolution. They are more likely to suggest
new ideas for hazard prevention and control
then oppose new ideas. By holding your managers
and supervisors accountable, you encourage their
positive involvement in the safety and health
program. Your own involvement then is less likely
to undercut or threaten their authority. For
more information on developing accountability,
see Chapter 6.
ENCOURAGING
THE USE OF PROGRAM SYSTEMS
You
have a full program in place, and you are holding
your managers and supervisors accountable for
carrying out their responsibilities. The next
step is to encourage the rest of your work force
to use the system built into the program and
to do their part.
Encourage
employees to take full advantage of opportunities
to become involved in problem identification,
problem solving and hazard reporting. Then,
when they do become involved, make sure they
get appropriate and timely management responses,
including recognition and reward.
When
your program's systems are working well most
safety and health problems will be resolved
before your employees feel the need to approach
you directly. Big problems may arise, however,
that the normal systems cannot handle. Your
supervisors probably will understand that these
problems are not a reflection on them, and that
you are the proper person to address these concerns.
What
should you do when an employee brings a problem
or suggestion to your attention? Listen carefully!
Then tactfully ask what attempts have been made
already to solve the problem or submit the suggestion.
In other words, what systems -- safety and health
program mechanisms -- have already been used?
Perhaps
the employee will respond that the supervisors
were advised but no action was taken. This may
suggest a problem within your program. Although
unlikely, the problem may be a supervisor who
genuinely does not care about having a safe
or healthful workplace. Rather than approach
this situation as a personal matter involving
this supervisor, focus on how the system is
not working. Maybe the supervisor did not understand
the issue raised by the employee or could not
explain to the employee why no action was necessary.
Make clear to the supervisor's manager that
you want the problem within the system to be
resolved. If the supervisor's attitude is at
least part of the problem, give the supervisor
and the manager a chance to work it out. It
is not a good idea to confront the supervisor
based on one incident.
Obviously,
if your accountability system is going to work,
any individual who continues to present barriers
to effective safety and health management will
have to be held accountable. It is important,
however, to try to separate any accountability
activity from your immediate response to employee-raised
questions, concerns or suggestions.
Remember,
too, that your safety and health systems not
only encourage employee involvement in identifying
hazards and resolving problems, but also protect
those employees from retaliatory and discriminatory
actions, including unofficial harassment.
FORGING
A PARTNERSHIP
Make
sure your supervisors know you understand that
not every safety or health problem can be solved
at the supervisory level. Call upon your managers
and supervisors to help make the employee input
systems work. Think of your work units -- crews,
departments -- as teams striving to identify
and solve problems throughout whatever system
mechanisms are needed. Your managers and supervisors
are the team leaders, working with you and the
other players toward a common goal.
You
may wish to reward or otherwise recognize the
teams that are most successful at reporting
hazards or suggesting new hazard control ideas.
Recognition can be based on the number of reports
and suggestions or on the quality of employee
participation. Let your managers and supervisors
know that when an employee brings a safety and
health matter to your attention, you consider
that a good reflection of the supervisor's leadership.
Previous
Section: Determining the Direction of Your Program
Next Section: Employee Involvement
