Why Don’t Safety Initiatives Generate Results?

The role of Change Management in HSE

Many companies complain about the bureaucracy created by governments as this results in huge financial and workload issues for them. Many hours are spent on mandatory reporting which is not used for improvement. Even worse, it’s often not being looked at by authorities.

Central safety functions within large organisations often do the same: they create their own heavy administrative systems to manage and control the organisation. This often leads to inefficiencies and an unnecessary burden on the organisation and its employees.

Many of the senior executives we work with are very committed to safety within their organisations. They demonstrate this commitment by implementing multiple safety systems, requiring employees to perform activities such as start-work conversations, behaviour-based safety observations, near-miss reporting, last-minute risk assessments, reviewing permit to work requests, and many more. However, when we look deeper into how effective these systems are, we not only see major gaps between the intended effect and actual results, but we also notice significant differences between divisions or plants within the same organisation.

The most common cause of failure we find is the way initiatives are implemented from the start. The safety team has designed a functional solution, introduced the solution to the organisation, trained the relevant people, and now expects them to effectively perform the tasks.

Many other questions that are relevant for a successful implementation are often overlooked: are they easy to understand, are they in line with other business aspects or operating procedures, are they practical, are they supported and driven by leadership in the right way?

How does Change Management come into play when launching or re-launching Safety Initiatives?

In our book “7 Insights Into Safety Leadership”, Tom Krause and Kristen Bell talk abou the fundamental understanding leaders need to drive safety because it is leaders who create the desired culture and impact system effectiveness through their behaviours and decisions.

“Most business leaders want to operate high performance workplaces that ensure effective worker protection.
The problem is that they often don´t know how to get there.“ ¹

This starts with a lack of understanding of how to get the desired results. For example, leaders focus on lagging indicators and KPIs reflecting activities, but not the way things are done. This drives quantity at the expense of quality which ends up with broken systems.

Understanding the above is a strong starting point. Equally important is ensuring leadership alignment and support. Leadership can´t be delegated to a function – it needs to come from top management. The members of the Executive Leadership Team, their alignment, their commitment, their actions, and decisions all instil the engagement needed to achieve good results.

Change Management Starts at the Top

Any successful initiative needs to be driven by the most senior group of leaders. Those stakeholders need to be aligned on a common objective or vision as well as the reasons why change is needed. They need to be fully committed to achieving the objectives and to the plan how to get there. Furthermore, they should understand their role in supporting the initiative and be able to explain and discuss the vision with each member of the organisation.

Stakeholders: Example of Underperformance

An example of missing alignment could be observed at a Western European metal company, where many years ago they faced a fatality involving a contractor. Consultants had conducted a comprehensive safety assessment, which revealed major gaps in the way their safety systems were implemented and applied. The CEO and CHRO – who were responsible for Safety as part of their roles – understood the need for change and implemented a safety management contractor and behaviour-based safety system. During the launch and throughout the implementation, not much attention was given to the COO, assuming he would be supportive of any initiative of the CEO, but he acted in a more passive way as he felt the programme was imposed on him. Additionally, with about 80% of the organisation reporting into him, the programme stayed far below expectations.

What was missing was a strong alignment amongst all members of the Leadership Team. A final eye-opening statement made after nearly 2 years into the programme showed the level of commitment of the COO: “…I have personally learned a lot, but when do you think we can focus on other things again…”

Achieving Results: Our Change Management Model

Based on our experience, Krause Bell Group has developed a Change Management Methodology that includes important aspects, which are widely underestimated and skipped in the process of implementing.

Before even starting to prepare for and plan an implementation, the INSPIRE phase addresses leadership alignment on vision, objectives, and the WHY – the reason for change. This includes not only communication, but the ability to explain and discuss the expected results.

The PREPARE phase deals with a clear strategy and plan focusing on the achievement of objectives and expectation for leaders across the entire organisation who to drive, support, and role model the change.

EXECUTE implements the change with focus on achieving results and monitoring progress.

The final phase of SUSTAIN makes sure that any change is embedded in systems, processes, and practices like HR, HSE, Supply Chain, and Operating Procedures.

Across all 4 phases we recommend establishing a Governance process that measures progress, deals with roadblocks, and establishes stakeholder management that will identify and involve key people in the organisation who are needed to make the programme a success.

If all 4 phases receive the necessary attention we will see significantly better results. Effective change management is making the difference.

Learn more about the role of change management in safety initiatives in Tom Krause and Kristen Bell’s book, 7 Insights Into Safety Leadership, or if you are interested in learning more about organizational culture, you can read Tom Krause’s newest book If Your Culture Could Talk: A Story About Culture Change.