Through the years, I have discovered some tried and true methods for selling safety and health programs to management. But be warned: Implementing these principles is not for the faint-hearted. It requires craft, mettle and perseverance. And if your employers aren't truly committed to safety, pressing the case aggressively could even cost you your job. But for companies that are open minded to the value of safety, effective practicing of these principles is also likely to yield great success. So much for the disclaimer. Let's get down to the principles.

Securing Top Management Commitment

Needless to say, without the commitment of your company's top management, you're going nowhere fast. Here are some principles to keep in mind when attempting to secure that commitment:

Flow Up vs. Flow Down. The Flow-Up model describes the task of those who must sell from the bottom-up (e.g., plant manager to vice-president to president). Prospects of success under Flow-Up are limited. After all, superiors may agree, disagree, table for an unlimited amount of time, or plain ol' kill your proposals.

By the same token, when you can sell from the top-down (e.g., president to vice-president to plant manager) - Flow Down - success is assured. The goal, then, becomes to persuade the person in higher authority to sell your proposal. Once the company president buys into your idea, the choice is removed from all subordinate management. So under Flow-Down, you only have to sell your ideas once.

Management Backing for ALL Programs. Management is much more likely to support your programs if it participates in their development. In the end it is not your but our program that is being implemented.

Using the Organization to Your Advantage. I never want to be accused of insubordination. However, when I get a management response that I find unacceptable and totally unjustified, I tell the person that I'm prepared to take the matter to the next level - all the way to the president, if necessary.

Run Till Someone Jerks the Leash. Act like you know what you're doing, do what you think is right and keep doing it until someone tells you that it's not your job. It's all about initiative. Don't wait for someone to tell you what you can or cannot do; and don't settle simply for "taking care of business." Apply these principles to the health and safety program you've been hired to implement. If your intentions are honorable, superiors, subordinates and co-workers will understand and accept a certain level of pushiness and assuming of additional responsibility.

Champion Safety and Health. Part of your job is to secure the highest possible place for safety and health on your organization chart. The higher the ranking of health and safety, the better your chances of using Flow-Down rather than Flow-Up methods to push your programs.

Allow Top Management Visibility into Your Activities. Don't rely on the grapevine or superiors to advertise your department and its successes to upper management. You need to do it yourself. If you have a safety and health newsletter, send it to all superiors. Draw attention to successes like reduction in incident rates and describe the activities you're undertaking. Be sure to send copies of any articles that you write that get published in trade journals and online communities (like SafetyXChange) to your superiors. This rule also applies any time your face or name appears in the publication. Try to make sure your company's name also appears in the publication when your name is referenced. Make sure upper management knows that you're spending budgeted dollars responsibly.

Conclusion

Next week, in Part 3, I'll get into the dollars and cents issues, including the identification and controlling of costs.

TOP 10

Bangladesh hit hard by natural disasters in 2007

World Disasters

Top 10 Natural Disasters By Number of Deaths in 2007

Top 10 Number of Reported Natural Disasters by Country in 2007

Source: Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters.

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