6 Questions to Help Your Safety Team Achieve Clarity
In a recent podcast episode I conducted with Blaine J. Hoffmann, host of the SafetyPro Podcast, Blaine explored a set of questions that he asks safety teams to help them achieve clarity. With his permission, here are his questions!
1. Why do we exist?
Core Purpose: This must support company goals. Avoid typical marketing mission statements. The answer here is for internal team use only. The answer must be idealistic.
Example: To continuously improve company safety and health management systems.
2. How do we behave?
Core Values: This must reflect current values.
Example: To first and foremost consider the safety and health of each and every worker.
3. What do we do?
Team Definition: No adverbs, qualifiers, or unnecessarily detailed descriptions. Keep it simple. And keep in mind, this can change over time. We may develop as a team and take on more responsibilities. That’s ok. So, let’s focus on where we are (or want to start) right now.
Example: Assist the company and employees to reduce workplace hazards and to implement new or improve existing safety and health programs.
4. How will we succeed?
This is our strategy: Consider everything we could be doing—write a list. Look at each item on your list and try to separate them into themes or categories. Create a label for each. Then, how would we measure success in how we “do” in each category?
Example: Focus on continuously assessing/improving the four essential S&H elements: management commitment, employee involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, employee safety and health training. Use annual Gap Assessment to grade efforts in these areas.
5. What is most important, right now?
Our Thematic Goal: This will be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It also must be shared across the team. That is, everyone must have a role to play and benefit from reaching the goal (answers next question). So ask, “If we accomplish only one thing during the next three months, what would it be?” This will help us determine how we spend our time, energy, resources in the near term.
Example 1: To increase employee participation in safety-related activities.
Example 2: To review/rewrite safety and health policies and procedures.
6. Who is responsible for what?
Roles & responsibilities: These must be written in measurable terms that can also describe the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities
I really appreciate Blaine letting me repost these important questions here. To learn more about Blaine J. Hoffmann, listen to his podcast and connect with him on LinkedIn. Also, learn more about Blaine’s VPP Simplified Gap Tool, a proprietary tool that he created to allow safety professionals to track progress toward VPP readiness or just to improve their safety and culture to the VPP standards.
