In the effort to ensure a safe and healthy workplace, supervisors are the safety director's most important allies. But to get the most out of your supervisors, you must establish a system of accountability for them that incorporates safety. Last week, in Part 1 of this series, I discussed the role of the job description in fulfilling that objective. Now let's talk about how to create a supervisors' job description that does justice to safety concerns.

Making Safety Part of the Job Description

As we saw last week, most companies have written job descriptions for their supervisors. However, few of them do a good job of specifically describing the supervisor's safety-related responsibilities in those job descriptions. This can be a critical failing. After all, the job description is the place supervisors turn to gauge what the company expects of them. So if safety isn't reflected in the job description, it probably won't translate into performance on the ground.

The model job description in the Tools section is one example of how to create a job description that incorporates safety-related responsibilities. I come from Canada. So my job description is based on a Canadian idiom - the - so called Internal Responsibility System (IRS). This theory, on which Canadian OHS laws are based, holds that all of the stakeholders in or affecting the workplace - management, contractors, supervisors and workers - should play a role in making it safe. The IRS was set out in a seminal document called the Hamm Commission Report in the mid-70s.

Keep in mind that the Model isn't a one-size-fits-all. The tasks it lists are simple and basic, not a complete retinue of safety-related functions. The important thing to take from the Model is the approach.

The Next Step: The Performance Review

Also keep in mind that listing safety-related functions in job descriptions is only the first step in establishing accountability. Writing it in a job description doesn't make it happen. To have real accountability, you must measure how well supervisors carry out their safety functions and reward them for successful performance.

Next week, in Part 3 of this series, I will explain how to integrate safety-related functions into supervisors' performance appraisals. I'll also provide a Model Performance Appraisal that you can adapt according to your company's situation and values.

TRAINING BLOOPERS

True stories from safety trainers

A Blanket Failure

During an emergency evacuation class in a hospital, I demonstrated the easiest way to get a victim onto a bedspread during emergencies, how to cover the patient for inclement weather and how to roll up the head end of the bedspread for a handle. Then - with many years of experience and in front of 30 or so students - I demonstrated proper lifting of the head and, with a good hand-hold, I backed away. The bedspread, which was donated, was too lightweight to hold the victim. The rolled-up handle immediately tore off and the victim's head crashed to the floor. No one was hurt. However, I was very embarrassed. I now furnish my own blanket for demonstrations.

Name withheld by request

Do you have a training blooper you'd like to share? Send them to catherinej@bongarde.com and let us know if we can use your name.

PEARLS OF WISDOM FROM SAFETY JOHN

Safety John.

Safety in Spring

It's almost that time of the year when the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing, the trees are budding. . . and young (and even older) people's thoughts turn to. . .well, they turn to distractions.

Some of those distracted people might be your own supervisors and workers. If you look at your past injury logs, you might notice that springtime often brings spikes in "work-related" injuries. Whether your injury rate typically rises in the spring, mid-summer or near the beginning of hunting season, it's time to rally your troops - managers, supervisors, Safety Committee members and yourself. Get everyone to spend more time on the floor, observing safe-work practices and offering immediate positive feedback. Watch your "floor presence" to stem the tide of seasonal injuries.

"Safety John" Lowrie CPP
Safety and Security Specialist

UPCOMING EVENTS

Safety in the Lone Star State

The Texas Safety Summit - the 10th annual health & safety conference conducted by the Division of Workers' Compensation - will be held in Austin, Texas on May 17th & 18th, 2006. Click here for more information.

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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