Guide for Directors

These guidance notes will support you to think about how you can lead in health and safety as a Director.

Introduction

These guidance notes will support you to think about how you can lead in health and safety. It is not a complete set of criteria for health and safety leadership.

These notes are part of a series of four guidance notes for:

The notes provide three themes that you could focus on to develop leadership capability, within each theme are focus areas for action.

The themes and focus areas are relevant for organisations of all sizes. A business owner or director is a person in a governance role and this guide applies to these people.

Download A Guide for Directors

Download the Questionnaire for Directors

Plan

Define what 'good' looks like for your business, and how you will achieve that.
Structure your role and that of other directors (if applicable), so that you can best consider and resource safety.
Set clear expectations for senior managers so they understand your intention.

Define your vision and plan to achieve it

Define your vision for health and safety with your Senior Managers - this is your strategic intention for the future.
Your vision should capture the way, the who, the where, and the why
you do things, in a motivating statement.
Align the vision with the broader organisational values and consider the others you work with, such as clients and contractors.
Use the vision to guide your decisions and discussions about health and safety.

Set objectives and KPIs

Work with directors to set objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your work.
Regularly monitor and review KPIs and hold workers, site supervisors, and contractors accountable for working towards the objectives.
Take action to amend practices, KPIs, or objectives where needed.
Clearly communicate the performance expectations required of workers, site supervisors, and contractors, and the steps they need to take to meet these.
Be specific in your communications and check that everyone understands what is required and have the resources required and have the resources required to meet your expectations.
Health and safety should not be seen as an add-on, but as an integrated part of all business decisions.
Ensure the health and safety impacts of activities (including introducing or changing processes, working practices, or structures and financial requirements) are considered when making decisions. In particular, consider health and safety in the design phase of any projects.
Be innovative and creative when designing and planning the work to be undertaken.

Resource safety

Identify the resources needed to manage health and safety. Thinks about the financial and physical resources that might be needed, as well as the skills, knowledge, and structure of the work itself (hours, schedules, relationships, workloads).
Provide workers and site supervisors with the correct PPE, plant, equipment, and training to create a safe and healthy work environment.
Think about ways to effectively integrate health and safety with the work being undertaken, so that it becomes an indistinguishable part of the work itself.
Don't make workers slaves to paperwork.

Motivate

This means being seen by your senior managers, workers, site supervisors, and contractors to be taking an interest in them and their health and safety and holding everyone accountable for doing the same.

Effective leadership in health and safety requires looking outside your business, into the sector and the community, and using your influence to make a positive impact beyond your own business footprint.

Be seen

If you expect your workers, site supervisors, and contractors to do something on site, be prepared to do it yourself:

Lead inductions. These are an opportunity to communicate your goals and how important safety is. Inductions create the first impression of your business and set the safety tone.
Always request site inductions on others' sites and wear appropriate PPE while you are on site.
Take time to talk about site safety with those you meet, until it becomes second nature.
Attend team meetings and discussions with key contractors/clients and sector safety meetings.
Develop collaborative initiatives to lead health and safety in the sector and on site.
Lead discussions about health and safety with workers to find collective ways to manage risk.
Support new ideas, there is always more than one way of doing something.
Challenge decisions that could impact the health and safety of your workers and site.
Ask for details about the business operations and risks.

Communicate effectively

Communicate in a way that fits your culture and recognises the diversity in your business (language, literacy, cultures). Think about others on your site and their needs.

Use a variety of methods and techniques to communicate including technology, face-to-face, toolbox talks, and newsletters.
Be authentic, listen to feedback and questions, and make sure your actions are consistent with your messages.
Respond positively to all information you are given.
Lead by example: Your reaction and response to feedback or news you may not want to hear will be communicated to your workers, site supervisors, and contractors through your actions rather than your words.
Admit mistakes and be open and approachable.

Celebrate good performance

Recognise and celebrate those who:

Meet or exceed targets and expectations.
Suggest innovative ways to work safer and healthier.
Support others to be safe in their activities.

Support good performance

You don't have to have all the answers.

Ask for support from your workers, site supervisors, and contractors; leave space for them to take a leadership role.
Actively look for opportunities to support workers and site supervisors to step up.
Involve your workers in business and sector initiatives and working groups.
Encourage them to share resources, talents, knowledge, and skills.

Build understanding

Develop your understanding

Understand due diligence and the principles of health and safety - particular to your sector. This includes understanding the technical terms used and what good health and safety looks like.

This will help you to ask the right questions at the right time, to assist in building your understanding.

Attend industry sector health and safety forums and events and seek independent advice as required.

Be curious and listen

Regularly visit worksites with staff and discuss the health and safety risks in business activities.

Listen to workers to understand how risks are being managed and ask questions of your team. Questions could include:

How does the right information get to the right people in the right way?
How are people being made aware if standards have moved on?
How are you tracking against your health and safety plan?
What are your critical risks and how are they controlled?
What has gone wrong and what have you learnt?
What went right and what have you learnt?
How are resources being used in health and safety, and are they are supporting the business to achieve the vision?

Consider changes to the business that might impact the type of information you need (training, investments etc).

Require transparent reporting

This will provide you with information that assists you to understand practice and performance and to make decisions.

This reporting should include lead as well as lag indicators (incidents and injury rates). In addition, provide transparent reporting to your stakeholders.

Monitor and reflect

Spend time focusing on how risk is being managed and how confident management (and you) are that the controls are effective and are in place all the time.

Request critical risk presentations from your senior managers or others in the business.

A new critical risk might be presented at each meeting, this will assist with discussions, and help you to understand what is working well, and where improvements may be required.

You will then be in a position to evaluate whether the resources the business has allocated are appropriate, and whether they are being used effectively.

Develop the understanding of others

Provide opportunities for your team to upskill to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to manage health and safety and that they stay current in health and safety innovation in your sector.

Provide your stakeholders with transparent reporting and information to assist them to improve and build their knowledge.

Set an example and take a genuine view of those on your worksite.