There’s a question that I get asked a lot by EH&S managers—both newcomers and veteran safety professionals: “What’s the best thing I can do in those first few days on a job?" Here’s my suggestion.

The First Days on the Job Demand Discretion

First, let me tell you what not to do. An experienced safety manager once advised me not to try to do too much when you first start. He understood that it’s human nature to want to quickly prove one’s worth to the new boss and make them feel justified in hiring you. And he had seen lots of brand new safety managers try to come up with all sorts of ambitious suggestions and observations during their first few days on the job. Unfortunately, it almost never worked.

The aggressive in-your-face approach from Day 1 tends to backfire. In addition to making you come off looking like a know-it-all, this attitude steps on toes and displays insensitivity to the local circumstances and policies. If you see an obvious problem, there’s probably some explanation for it.

So, slow down. By all means, after you make the round of introductions, you should conduct your own inspection of the facilities. However, unless you find some blatant safety violation or serious environmental problem that simply can’t wait, resist the temptation to immediately report same. File away the observation in your to-do list.

So, what should you do in your first days as safety manager?

Answer: Spend the time getting to know your peers and how you can work together to accomplish your mutual goals.

Establish a Collaboration with QA

There are 2 peers I especially recommend that new safety managers get to know: the Maintenance and the Quality Assurance (QA) Managers. Let’s start with QA. Keeping employees safe and avoiding defects in the product are overlapping goals. Each one is accomplished by empowering employees not to make mistakes. If you ever go through QA orientation for new hourly employees, you’ll be struck by the similarities between the QA manager’s presentation and the way you orient employees to safety:

1. QA wants a defect-free (substitute injury-free) plant;
2. The company is committed to a high quality (substitute very safe) operation;
3. The operation is subject to external inspections by USDA, customers, Sales, etc. (substitute OSHA and EPA);   
4. We have QA Inspectors (substitute safety team members/EH&S staff) to help you and measure quality (substitute safety); and
5. We are committed to 6 Sigma (substitute VPP, ISO or some other high standard of safety performance).

QA and safety also occupy similar positions in corporate society. Like safety managers, QA managers tend to be perceived as a burr in the side of line supervisors and line employees. When they see the QA guy come around, their first thought is: “Uh-oh, here comes a ‘gotcha.’” Accounting & Management generally regards QA as a cost center and the QA manager as a person who doesn’t "understand" production.” ‘Sound familiar?

So, the QA manager is usually comfortable with the safety guy and willing to form a collaboration in which each side agrees to keep an eye on the other’s interests. And because both of you are trying to accomplish essentially the same thing—the elimination of supervisor and employee mistakes—the QA/safety collaboration is a natural one that not only won’t interfere with but actually advance each side’s performance. It’s a win-win, a rising tide lifts all boats, and all that.

Establish a Collaboration with Maintenance

However, the safety director’s potentially greatest ally is the Maintenance Manager. Like safety, maintenance is typically under-budgeted and under the gun. "We gotta get that machine running NOW!" Maintenance works around the clock, in dirt, heat, cold and danger in every nook and cranny of the plant and grounds.

Moreover, it’s the maintenance manager’s people who typically perform the most dangerous operations—LOTO, work in confined space, working at heights, working with chemicals, just to name a few. They also tend to work with the least supervision.

Although maintenance is a natural ally of safety, the safety/maintenance alliance has to be cultivated. I recommend using the initial 'honeymoon' period and the few discretionary dollars that often come with it when you first start on the job to benefit maintenance before anyone else. Buy maintenance workers some special 'mechanics' or anti-vibration gloves. One item I have found they really like are 'kneeling pads.'  Even a small gesture like bringing them a box of donuts at the beginning of shift or helping them put up safety cones and tape can go a long way in establishing trust.

Conclusion

Smart safety managers recognize that they need a lot of help from their peers to achieve their goals. Two of the peers in the best position to help—and whom safety is positioned to help in return—are QA and Maintenance. So it’s critical to establish an alliance with these managers early in your tenure. Directing your efforts to cultivating this alliance is perhaps the most productive thing a new safety manager can do during his or her first days on the job.

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