Improving behavioural safety & safety leadership through diagnostics & interactive workshops

Challenge

Everyone in the organisation – leaders, employees (professional, technical trades and administrative) were asked to participate across the different states. This started in 2021-22, when lockdowns and border closures occurred, and was re-energised post-COVID (presenting additional challenges when it came to travel and delivery).

Solution

We proposed an approach that was both bottom-up and top-down. This involved assessment, feedback, and group sessions to be implemented over a 4-5 month period that would re-enforce the messages, learning and behaviours over time. The program was split across four phases:

1. Diagnostics

All leaders and employees involved in the program completed either the Leadership Safety Attributes Test (LSAT – specifically designed to measure leaders’ safety behaviours and attributes) or the Individual Safety Attributes Test (ISAT).

On completion, People Solutions generated individual development reports for all personnel, as well as team reports for discipline and geographic based teams within the company, including production, warehousing, leadership teams and administration.

We provided individual development reports and information summarising the spread of results for each team and highlighting key team strengths and development areas.

2. Top-down safety leadership program

All executives, managers, team leaders, and senior employees participated in a one-day safety leadership workshop. This workshop included:

• An introduction to safety leadership
• Reviewing and discussing the group’s LSAT results
• Working through safety leadership scenarios as a group
• How to create psychological safety and encourage people to speak up
• Reinforcing positive safety behaviours and compliance

3. Bottom-up team safety workshops

All employees participated in a series of half-day safety workshops – firstly to learn and understand the concepts behind behavioural and psychological safety, and secondly to practice the conversations behind improving these practices with the business. These workshop sessions included:

• An introduction to behavioural and psychological safety
• Reviewing and discussing the group’s ISAT results
• Working through behavioural and psychological safety scenarios as a group
• Practicing the conversations to encourage people to ‘speak up’
• An introduction to psychological safety and safety communication
• Brainstorming ideas for improving safety

4. Program review

After the program concluded, we reviewed the progress with leaders. Apart from the learning of the sessions, these provided a focus for leaders on current safety leadership and employee practices and a critical review of where future safety practices might change.

Result

95 employees completed ISATs and 47 leaders completed LSATs as part of the diagnostic phase.

We conducted initial full-day workshops with leaders and employees over a 4-5 week period and followed these up with review and practice sessions some 6 months later. Many employees noted an increased level of safety conversation across the leadership and employees in general. New initiatives were also being introduced including:

• Executive and leadership visibility and Town Hall meetings (production and safety).
• Recognition of the disconnect between productivity versus safety challenge (stay safe but hurry up).
• Analysis of incidents – these should involve both timely and thorough discussion and conferencing.
• System accessibility and use (training).
• Cross functional interaction across managers and disciplines
• Increased social interactions as a means of making it easier to speak up!