To achieve supervisor accountability you must do three things:

• Let supervisors know what you want them to do;
• Measure performance and compare it against those stated expectations; and
• Bestow and withhold rewards on the basis of your findings.

The job description we discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this series can get you over the first hurdle; the performance appraisal can get you over the next two.

The Importance of Performance Appraisals

Supervisors need feedback so they can tell how well they're doing their job. The performance appraisal (also called the performance review or evaluation) is the main vehicle companies use to deliver that feedback.

Although there are different ways to do an appraisal, the basic process involves considering what a supervisor accomplished in a period. In more sophisticated companies, performance is measured and compared to a set of predetermined, objective standards or benchmarks like production quotas and deadlines. The results of the appraisal, that is, whether the supervisor is meeting or exceeding standards, determines raises, bonuses, promotions and other rewards.

Safety & Performance Appraisals

What a company rewards is a reflection of what it values. All companies value safety. So all companies consider safety in the performance appraisal.

Right? Wrong.

In fact, few companies take safety into account when appraising performance. That's not because they don't think safety is important. They just don't look at safety the way they do other operations. "Although all companies care about it, safety has often been seen as something mystical and outside the realm of normal business, like motherhood and love-of-country," explains Newfoundland safety consultant Wayne Pardy. "Many companies are more comfortable using traditional economically-based, quantifiable concepts like quality control and production levels to measure performance."

Safety is also seen as hard to measure. One problem is that it's hard to define what makes for effective performance in safety. "Historically, companies have used the numbers of accidents and/or lost workdays as a measure," Pardy continues. But this is unreliable and often misleading since the occurrence of accidents can be as much a matter of luck as a reflection of prevention efforts and initiatives. "Injury and accident statistics are still important, as long as there's a clear sense of their value, relevance and role in the system," Pardy explains. "Companies tend to overreact when accidents rise. Conversely, they assume everything is under control when they fall."

Sometimes the disconnect between safety and performance appraisal occurs not at the measurement but the reward stage. "In too many companies the recognition for accomplishments in safety isn't a bonus or a promotion, but a free gift, button or special colored helmet," comments Pardy. "Instead of conveying the sense that safety is a core value, such rewards trivialize it and set it apart."

How to Build Safety into the Performance Appraisal

Anybody can talk about safety. But to build a safety culture, companies need to treat safety like other operations. That means establishing clear, measurable and objective standards and measuring performance against those standards. Integrating safety into the performance appraisal is a huge step in that direction. Although there's no one correct way to do a performance appraisal, there are certain characteristics an effective system should have.

For one thing, it must be formalized. A performance appraisal isn't just something to do when the mood strikes you. There needs to be clear rules and procedures in your OHS policy and/or employment manual so that every supervisor knows what will be evaluated, how often appraisals will be done and how results will be used.

The other key factor is measuring the right things.

What to Measure

Performance-based safety involves the use of a combination of four measures:

Objective measures such as sound, dust or temperature level readings, or, as used in Part B, Sec. 2 of the model appraisal, the carrying out of specific safety-related tasks listed in the supervisor's job description. (My model appraisal in the Tools section incorporates the responsibilities we listed in the Model Job Description in the previous article, e.g., the holding of weekly safety meetings.)

Subjective measures such as opinions of key people who work with the supervisor on the safety-related aspects of the supervisor's performance, such as in housekeeping or maintenance. My Model Appraisal, for example, solicits the opinion of not only the supervisor's boss (or appraiser) (Part B, Sec. 1) but the supervisor himself (Part A).

Quantitative measures such as an audit score that uses a standard set or scale of numbers. For example, the Model Appraisal asks how many safety improvements the supervisor made and whether she met numerical targets (Part B, Sec. 2).

Qualitative measures of conditions and situations related to safety. For example, the Model Appraisal asks the appraiser to rate the effectiveness of safety meetings conducted by the supervisor (Part B, Sec. 1).

Conclusion

Regular performance appraisals not only help your supervisors meet safety and production goals, they also help them recognize their own strengths and accomplishments, and set new goals. This is essential to improving performance and establishing accountability for safety.

UPCOMING EVENT

The National Safety Management Society Golden Gate Chapter (Bay Area, CA) is having an all day seminar, "Managing Culture and Language for Safety Success."

Do you have an upcoming safety event that you'd like to announce on SafetyXChange? Public and non-profit groups can send their information to catherinej@bongarde.com.

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