Guide for Senior Managers

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 as a Senior Manager.

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 senior manager is a first or second tier executive/manager. The guide applies to all senior managers in the construction and associated industries, including those in organisations that are contractors, sub-contractors, and hired labour businesses.

Download A Guide for Senior Managers

Download the Questionnaire for Senior Managers

Plan

Effectively communicate what 'good' looks like for your business, in a way that your workers, site supervisors, and contractors can share and engage with. Communicate your expectations clearly, and empower your workers, site supervisors, and contractors to achieve these.

Share the vision

Be involved in the vision development, led by your directors.
Discuss the vision with workers, site supervisors, and contractors.
Listen to and understand their interpretation of the vision and feed this information to directors.
Help workers, site supervisors, and contractors to engage with the vision.
Do this by showing them how their activities are supporting the business to improve standards to keep everyone safe and healthy. This includes all visitors and other members of the public who are on or near your site

Set objectives

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

Be visible in the business. Take an interest in the activities of your workers, site supervisors, and contractors, and their views about safety. Provide the support and space for them to develop and step up as safety leaders. Be and effective communicator; inspire your workers, site supervisors, and contractors to follow your lead.

Be seen on site

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 outcomes

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.

Leave space for others to lead

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 you own capability and understanding of health and safety practices and performance. Provide development opportunities for workers, site supervisors, and contractors. Seek out and share knowledge that will help you and the business to perform better.

Develop your understanding

Having credibility is critical to your ability to lead.

Identify gaps in your own knowledge and skills and develop these.
Consider a mentor/coach or undertake training to support your development.
Attend sector events to learn from others.
Understand the details of your workers' activities as well as the strategic view, relevant legislations (including associated regulations), and what good practice looks like your business.

Understand others

Support your workers, site supervisors, and contractors to meet your expectations by identifying gaps in their knowledge and skills.

Provide training programmes that expand workers' skill and knowledge such as:
- fatigue management
- communication skills
- drug and alcohol programmes, and
- conflict management training

Be curious and listen

Talk less, listen more. Be curious about different perspectives.

Invite feedback and comment and welcome all information, particularly information that you need to know but may not want to hear.
Be curious to determine why workers, site supervisors, and contractors are not meeting your expectations - few people deliberately take unsafe action.
Listen and have open conversations about their values, beliefs, and understanding.
Take action where you need to.
Support your workers, site supervisors, and contractors to understand health and safety is not about words on a piece of paper, but about how you can be confident that risks are known, planned, and managed.

Verify safety performance

Review the performance of projects and work activities with your workers, site supervisors, and contractors.

Verify and confirm your workers, site supervisors, and contractors have the capability to work safely, and this is monitored and checked on an ongoing basis.
Work with your workers, site supervisors, and contractors to identify the critical risks in their work. Do they know how and if the risk is being managed? Seek their input and feedback, use this to inform improvement activity.

Report and share information

Ask your workers, site supervisors, and contractors and others on site to report any potential failures to you.

Discuss and explore ways to improve your understanding of how health and safety is being managed on your sites
Be transparent about performance. Provide directors with the information they need to inform their decision-making and assurance processes.
Share relevant information with workers, site supervisors, and contractors and the wider sector.

Talk less. Listen more. Be curious about different perspectives

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