SAFETY LEADERSHIP 41www.shponline.co.uk

Recent research from around the

world has suggested that an “empowermentleadership” style is vital to improving safetystandards as, without it, you simply cannotexpect widespread “discretionary” or“organisational citizenship behaviour” fromyour workforce. And without thesebehaviours it’s hugely difficult, if notimpossible, to develop a strong safetyculture.

That’s a lot of buzz words already so,rather than use any more jargon, I’ll seek todescribe the truth of this further withreference to Martin Luther King, NelsonMandela and Eric Morecambe!

Words to the wise

Safety involvementIn the US, they talk about “discretionarybehaviour”, which, in the UK, we mightrefer to as “above the line” or “organisationalcitizenship behaviours”. Regardless,collectively we are talking about:

volunteering to be part of a project orprocess team, or to be a safety rep;undertaking non-mandatory safetytraining, or attending non-mandatorymeetings;paying any sort of genuine attention, orcontributing to a discussion duringmandatory training or meetings;saying something to a colleague who has

put themselves at risk;making an effort to model safebehaviours and practices in front of newstarters;taking the time to show new starters theropes;stopping to clear a housekeeping issue;stopping to call a “time out” becauseyou’re not comfortable;reporting a near miss;responding (totally!) honestly toquestions during an incidentinvestigation; and, to deliberately blurthe edges between compliance and“discretionary behaviour”complying with a safety requirementwhen not supervised, or when workingalone (because, let’s be honest, oftenwhat should be compliance is actuallydiscretionary – especially if it’s late, oryou’re working from a van a long wayfrom base).

Compliance isn’t enough. Interestingly, theresearch suggests that there is a bettercorrelation between workforce involvementin safety and incident rate, and basiccompliance and incident rate. If that soundsintuitively unlikely, consider this question:would you prefer your 10-year-old to simplystep into the road blindly at a level crossingbecause the green ‘walk’ sign has come on,or would you prefer them to cross 50 yardsdown the road but ‘dynamic risk-assessing’properly as they go?

Regardless of blurred edges, I hope we’dall agree that the above list is simply thebasic behaviours we’d all like to see ourworkforce undertaking. It’s what we wantwhen we get inspirational speakers in, setup behavioural safety processes, or launch“hearts and minds” initiatives. Again, this isimportant, as the research suggests thatthese simply cannot succeed in anywidespread or enduring way in the absence ofwhat has been described as empowering, or“transformational” leadership.

Transformational leadershipAn Australian paper1 describes three types ofsafety leader: the fireman, the policemanand the knight. The fireman is “reactive”, ofcourse – invisible until something goeswrong. The policeman is primarily about

Demystifying the current academic buzz words aroundthe subject and using examples from politics and popularculture Tim Marsh explains why leadership style doesn’tjust influence safety culture but largely determines it.

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actively seeking out transgressions and isanalogous to ‘calculative’ (compliant) in thefamous Parker and Hudson model.2

However, we need our supervisors andmanagers to be the third sort – pro-active“knights”, leading from the front withpassion, honour and integrity!

Traditionally, transformational leadershipis held to have four key elements:

Listening; Rewarding;Leading by example; andInvolving.

Note that there is no explicit reference tolearning. This is because learning is treatedas a subset of listening, but I would arguethat it should be a category all on its own,and here’s why.

I have previously written in SHP3,4 aboutthe vital importance of a ‘Just Culture’ basedon objective analysis and learning as thebasis of a strong safety culture. Briefly,the point made is that, followingthe likes of Reason’s ‘Cheese’ and‘Just Culture’ models, objectiveanalysis will reveal that manyunsafe behaviours are out-and-out unintentionalerrors caused by design,task demands,ergonomics, or lack oftraining, i.e. “I don’t knowwhat I’m doing” and/or“I’m physiologicallyincapable of doing it –especially if I’m tired”.Further, many consciousviolations are often caused bythe need to get finished beforemidnight and encouraged by the‘blind-eye’ syndrome!

The core of a ‘Just Culture’,then, is to step back andapply someobjectiveanalysisbefore

rushing to judgement. Just asking “why?”curiously will pretty much do it. If you do,you’ll find that in 80 to 90 per cent of casesyou’ll learn something interesting – even ifit’s just that there is systemic temptation tocut a corner.

This ‘Just Culture’ approach simply can’tbe done well without talking and listening tothe workforce. (Indeed, the evidence showsclearly that the more ‘just’ the culture isperceived to be, the more effective the basicincident-reporting and analysis system – letalone anything more pro-active.)

So, as I see it, talking abouttransformational safety leadership withoutexplicit reference to ‘Just Culture’ and“Why?” analysis is a bit like the Peter Cookand Dudley Moore one-legged mansketch:“Well, I see you standing there OK –standing there you have covered…I’m very

impressed with thestanding up

bit…but howexactly are

you goingto kick

me?!”In

fairness, however, though analysis gives ahuman-factor process ‘kick’ it must be saidthat without the “transformational”behaviours discussed below, you could arguethat a pro-active culture can’t stand up atall…

Learning and true leadershipIn terms of inspirational leaders most agreethat Richard Branson is one of the very best.The leadership writer Damien Hughesquotes a story about Sir Richard andlearning,5 in which he relates how hechallenged Branson’s claim that he’d “neverfailed”. Hughes said “but you must have –for example, what about when you lost outon the National Lottery?” Branson’s replywas as follows:

“Well yes, we made mistakes with thatone and got complacent. We thoughtbecause we had the media on our side andwere the only ones offering ‘not for profit’that we’d walk it. We forgot some basics, likethe details of the business plan anddeveloping relationships with key players.But a month later, very mindful of thesemistakes, I struck a deal that made me tensof millions that I probably wouldn’t have gotif we’d got the Lottery. So it wasn’t a totalfailure, now, was it?”

So, is this an inspirational example of agenuine learning focus, or just bull? Well, asdiscussed below, in a very important respectit really doesn’t matter because the myth canbe more important than the person.

I mention this example to stress that agenuine learning focus doesn’t have to be adry, academic thing. It can often beinspirational, too. Certainly, so much ofwhat influences how we feel aboutsomething can be determined by a singleevent (or even just a mythical story) thatresonates.

Technically, it’s called “critical incident”theory and, in safety terms, can be boileddown to something that resonates widely,like “and they actually stopped the job?!” or

“and they still didn’t stop the job?!”So I’d suggest a simplebut vital amendment to

the classic “fourfactors” by adding

‘learning’explicitly.

ListeningListening is

key fortwo“In genuinely listening to my captors I learned so much

about their mindset. Their values, hopes and fears. It

stood me in such good stead later, when we opened

formal negotiations. I had more understanding and

more respect.” © Alamy

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reasons: one, because you might learnsomething (as above) but two, because italso helps empower the person you’relistening to.

When locked up on Robben IslandNelson Mandela would make a point ofspending as much time as possible talking tohis guards. Not just because he was trying toconvert South Africa one person at a time –though he was, of course – but because:

“In genuinely listening to them I learnedso much about the Boer mindset. Theirvalues, hopes and fears. It stood me in suchgood stead later when we opened formalnegotiations. I had more understanding andmore respect.”6

As for the second point – that you caninfluence the person you listen to by thevery act of listening – we all know just howmany of these guards were later inattendance at his presidential inauguration,shedding tears of joy.

Rewarding (praise)Obviously, the use of praise is a key chapterin any text on good leadership, coaching, orempowerment. This short section looks notso much at getting your supervisors to do itwell but at getting them to do it all.

Many people will have heard of the ‘one-minute manager’ whose golden rule was“catch someone doing something right”, andthere is any number of classic texts thatstress the importance of this in maximisingan organisation’s potential.

Studies show that in order for criticism toresonate and not be seen as yet another nagit needs to have been preceded by fivepraises. An interesting spot-check is to ask aworkforce how many instances of praisethey get relative to criticism – it’s never 1 to5, that’s for sure!

Some American “how to praise” videosare a deep joy to watch (and the more hard-bitten and world-weary the supervisorswatching it, the more amusing!) “Hey Joe, Ijust wanna say how great it is to see you inall your PPE there … you won’t be the onegoing home missing an eye tonight … so,way to go Joe!”

And cue Eric Morecambe giving a halfturn into his sleeve and muttering“Arsenal!!” – or something like that!

There are, however, more UK-friendlytechniques out there, such as “one in ten”.This involves asking people to ratethemselves from 1 to 10 on a task. Then,when they say 7, for example, rather thanasking “why only a 7?” you ask “why aren’tyou a 0?” And when they explain why theyjustify a 7 you listen, nod, smile, murmur,and maybe even say “sounds more like an 8to me!”

With some rapport built and some praisenaturally given for what they actually dowell, you switch to coaching mode, asking:“You know I’m a safety coach and my job isto halve accidents around here, so if I canget you up from that 8 to a 9, that’s my jobdone – for now at least. How do you thinkwe could do that?”

Both parties are now primed to have aproductive and constructive chat, whichshould lead naturally to the magic “curiouswhy?” questions and other vital objectiveanalysis techniques. Indeed, as I havepreviously argued in these pages,3,4 the mostsincere praise of all is: “I listened to you anddid something with what you told me.”

One of the problems we face constantly isbeing asked to do something that is sensibleand effective but, because it comes straightfrom a textbook (or a HQ in anothercountry, like the US), it isn’t appropriate inEurope in its original format and so goesdown like a lead balloon.

Take Dr Martin Luther King’s famous ‘Ihave a dream’ speech – an excellent exampleof flexibility. Did you know that the keywords we all remember weren’t actually inthe formal draft, and his speech wasapparently a bit leaden until an aide tappedhis arm and whispered “why not try that‘dream’ stuff that went down so well inchurch the other day?” So, some listening toreports in there, too!

The point is that we mustn’t give up on asound but rather tricky principle justbecause of early setbacks. We must beflexible and persistent and find a better,more appropriate way of applying it locally.

ModellingAll of the above obviously comes under‘modelling’, too, but this case study shouldsuffice to reinforce the point that ‘do as I say,not as I do’ never works.

Just before becoming prime minister,Gordon Brown visited a site to launch a shipbut declined to wear his mandatory safetyglasses, pointing out that he had severevision problems (this was not commonknowledge at the time). The seniormanagement nevertheless decided to “go forit – the workforce will understand”. But theyhave paid for that decision every day since.To quote the MD: “Every toolbox talk, every

weekly brief, and particularly everydisciplinary, we get ‘what about GordonBrown?’ Half blind or not, it went down likea lead balloon and if I could turn back theclock, I would. We should have realised therod we were making that day.”

InvolvingIt is now widely accepted that the more theworkforce is involved in things like jobdesign, risk assessments and the writing anddelivery of toolbox talks, the better. (Thatsaid, just because we know its true doesn’tmean we always do it anywhere near asoften as we should when time constraintsand logistics get in the way.)

There is a distinction between ‘required tobe involved’ and ‘choosing to get involved’and, if we get all of the above right, then thediscretionary involvement requirement willpretty much take care of itself. For example,we’d certainly have more enthusiasticvolunteers for safety committees andbehavioural safety teams. Again, there’s ahuge learning element here, as in “prove tome you’ll listen and at least sometimes dosomething with my knowledge andexperience, and I’m all yours”.

A subset of “involving” is to use coachingtechniques, where workers are askedquestions rather than told the answers, sothat they take an active part in thediscussion. This links in with the techniquethat research shows to be the single mosteffective in achieving behaviour change –the use of “rational argument”.

For example, rather than shouting “oi you– hold the bloody handrail!” try: “I’ve justbeen on a course and did you know that 50per cent of all lost-time accidents in thiscompany last year were caused by failing tohold the handrail? Apparently, the cost toour industry sector overall was about £5million. I wonder how many jobs that is inthis day and age?!” Pause. “Only I noticedback there that you weren’t…”

ConclusionThe vast majority of unsafe acts are errorscaused by task demands, poor training, orviolations caused by the perception that it’swhat the company wants. It’s easy to see thatthe safety leadership described above wouldhelp greatly with all of these, and research

“We mustn’t give up on a sound but rather trickyprinciple just because of early setbacks. We mustbe flexible and persistent and find a better wayof applying it locally.”

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44 SAFETY LEADERSHIP SHP FEBRUARY 2011

Continuing professional development is the process by which OSH practitioners maintain, develop and

improve their skills and knowledge. IOSH CPD is very flexible in its approach to the ways in which CPD can

be accrued, and one way is by reflecting on what you have learnt from the information you receive in your

professional magazine. By answering the questions below, practitioners can award themselves credits.

One, two or three credits can be awarded, depending on what has been learnt – exactly how many you

award yourself is up to you, once you have reflected and taken part in the quiz.

There are ten questions in all, and the answers can be found at the end of the online version of this

article at www.shponline.co.uk/features-content/full/cpd-article-words-to-the-wise

To learn more about CPD and the IOSH approach, visit

www.iosh.co.uk/membership/about_membership/about_cpd.aspx

QUESTIONS

1 The US term ‘discretionary behaviour’ is often known in the UK as?

a Above-the-line behaviours

b Below-the-line behaviours

c Flying-in-the-wind behaviour

d On-the-line behaviour

2 Some of the components of this type of behaviour are (tick all that

apply):

a Undertaking non-mandatory safety training

b Modelling safe behaviour for new starters

c Complying with safety requirements when unsupervised

d Demonstrating unsafe behaviour to others

3 Various techniques can be used to influence safety behaviour –

which of these cannot?

a Invite inspirational speakers in

b Launch a hearts-and-minds campaign

c Leave the workforce to use its own common sense

d Set up behavioural safety processes

4 Transformational leadership is NOT about which one of these?

a Listening

b Leading by example

c Policing transgressions

d Involving

5 Reason’s model for safety culture is called?

a Cheese model

b Butter model

c Milk model

d Yoghurt model

6 Unintentional errors are caused by? Indicate the odd one out:

a Design

b Task demands

c Training

d Ergonomics

7 The ‘Just Culture’ approach needs to include (tick all that apply):

a Listening to the workforce

b Talking to the workforce

c Insisting on basic incident reporting, with penalties for not doing

so

d Asking the question “Why?”

8 A genuine learning focus is:

a Dry

b Academic

c Inspirational

d Quite boring

9 What is the ratio of praise to criticism that makes a criticism have

some value?

a 1 to 8

b 1 to 2

c 1 to 20

d 1 to 5

10 A workforce will respond better if it is involved in (tick all that

apply):

a Job design

b Disciplining others who break the rules

c Risk assessment

d Delivering toolbox talks

shows clearly that transformational safetyleadership techniques do indeed inspire thebehaviours desired.

On the other hand, it’s also true that inthe medium-to-long term the effectivenessof training is determined not by the trainingitself but by the way it is followed up andembedded into the organisation.

This is important, as research shows that,in many organisations, supervisors andmanagers are apt to act in atransformational way about productivity butnot about safety because they “try harder forthe most important priorities”.

Therefore, to conclude, here’s a worryingthought: is training in the above techniques– even under the safety banner –sometimes counter-productive because itactually gives front-line managementanother set of powerful tools fordemonstrating what it is they “really, reallywant”?

References1 Broadbent, D (2007): ‘What kind of

Safety Leader Are You?’ National Healthand Safety Conference, New Zealand

2 Parker, D, Lawrie, M and Hudson, P

(2005): ‘A framework for understandingthe development of organisational safetyculture’, in Safety Science, 44, pp551-562

3 Marsh, T (2010): ‘Stretch to the limit’, inSHP Vol.28, No.2, pp39-42

4 Marsh, T (2010): ‘It’s a kind of magic’, inSHP Vol.28, No.9, pp40-42

5 Hughes, D (2009): Liquid thinking,Capstone

6 Mandela, N (1994): Long walk to freedom,Little, Brown

Tim Marsh is managing director of Ryder-Marsh

Safety (Ltd) – see page 4 for more information

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