"Safety professionals who look inward for solutions are looking in the wrong place. The world does not revolve around safety. In fact, a considerable number of so-called safety issues are simply reactions to other key issues and challenges that our society has been faced with lately." I wrote these words back in 1993. Unfortunately, they remain true today. I would like to wrap this series by suggesting a cure to what I perceive to have been a decades-long lack of leadership in our profession.

The Crux of Leadership

Outside safety, the world is changing at a rapid pace. Safety's rightful place should be in the vanguard. Men and women should be not only contributing to but leading the changes taking place in society and within companies. They should be identifying key issues and their potential impact on our organizations and articulating what type of safety performance improvement strategy is needed. In an ideal world, the safety professional would rally skilled people around the issues, and maximize available resources aimed at minimizing the potential for loss. At the same time, they would maximize safety performance and be the winners and survivors in the safety leadership challenge.

But it's not happening. Why not?

Leadership is often associated with glory. But Peter F. Drucker calls leadership "mundane, unromantic and boring. Its essence is performance." The crux of leadership, says Drucker, is the capacity not simply to achieve but articulate goals. According to Drucker:

"What distinguishes the leader from the mis-leader are his goals. Whether the compromise he makes with the constraints of reality - which may involve political, economic, financial or people problems - are compatible with his mission and goals or lead away from them determines whether he is an effective leader. And whether he holds fast to a few basic standards (exemplifying them in his own conduct) or whether 'standards' for him are what he can get away with, determines whether the leader has followers or only hypocritical time-servers."

The Safety Leadership Disconnect

Drucker was not speaking specifically about safety. But he might have been, especially in light of management's role in the internal responsibility system for safety performance. Do most safety management systems request one thing, yet promote another? Do they say "safety is a value around here," while also suggesting "we have to get on with the job of production at all costs"? Or has management been able to articulate what I call the "macro safety issues" (some refer to them as up-stream safety factors) to the extent that what gets translated into day-to-day, practical activities (or micro safety activities) is a relatively accurate reflection of the values which management sets for organizational safety performance?

Consider how safety issues get addressed throughout business generally. Are those in leadership roles more concerned about furthering their own political (safety) agendas at the expense of safety in general, and workers in particular? Has safety become more of a political issue than a people issue for labor and government? Do most managers have enough of a working knowledge of safety management to play a leadership role? Some would argue that management in general doesn't have enough training or education in safety management to be considered knowledgeable enough to demonstrate effective and informed leadership in safety. The debate continues.

A Way Out of the Safety Leadership Cul de Sac

The bottom line: Leadership in safety management is an essential part of a complete and comprehensive safety management system. How this leadership gets demonstrated and how effective it will be will ultimately depend upon who steps forward to exercise the leadership.

I submit that future leadership in safety is no longer the exclusive domain of any one group or individual. It will take a group effort. To repeat what I said last week, leadership in safety can be exhibited by anyone, at any time. It can and must be exhibited by:

• Supervisors as they conduct safety meetings or work site inspections;
• Labor and OH&S committee representatives as they lobby for or make proposals for improvements in safety standards;
• Government as it shows that there is more to health and safety management than mere compliance with acts and regulations.

Conclusion

Safety, I regret to say, is not keeping up. As the business world changes on a daily basis, we continue to cling to old, worn out notions. Our challenge is to find the leadership necessary to not only keep up with but lead the changes within our organizations. Such leadership can be exhibited by anyone who chooses to step outside the traditional bounds that have constrained significant improvements in safety performance. Ultimately, successful people and accident prevention strategies need to be leveraged and balanced with progressive, high performance safety recognition and incentive options. Unless and until that happens, safety will continue to lag behind a changing world.

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