Leadership the Key to Improving Safety

Leadership the Key to Improving Safety

A good safety record is all about leadership

Health and Safety issues have never been more in the public eye. Recent train disasters in particular, have meant that all organisations are under the spotlight when it comes to safety records and processes. In addition, employers are now more open to litigation and prosecution following industrial and workplace accidents, sending insurance premiums sky high. Acorn Coaching and Development has developed a set of modules specifically designed to improve behavioural safety through leadership. Leading clients in the construction industry have been keen to acknowledge significant improvements following their work with Acorn.

“Safety records are dramatically improved by the attitudes and behaviours of the leaders who create a culture of good safety practice,” says Colin Dulson of Acorn.

“Our experience shows that the behaviour and attitudes of key management are reflected in their staff throughout their organisation. So a key manager, who forgets to put on a hard hat when walking through a site, is sending a clear signal to everyone else, that not wearing essential safety equipment is ok.”

A major HSE research project called ‘Strategies to promote safe behaviour as part of a health and safety management system’, shows that the use of behaviour strategies that promote critical health and safety behaviours, have a significant positive effect. This understanding of how behavioural safety works should enable any organisation to develop a bespoke approach.

Adds Dulson: “The most important message contained in this report is that leadership behaviour is by far, the most powerful influence on safety record improvement. More importantly, leadership behaviour and attitudes are critical for long term consistent and ongoing safety improvement. It’s not about creating more rules. For example, putting another sign up saying PPE must be worn is unlikely to have any effect. It’s passive and open to choice, particularly if company leaders fail to challenge those who don’t comply.”

effective behavioural safety schemes are about educating people

The most effective behavioural safety schemes are about educating people and reinforcing this by continual feedback and coaching. Other key factors in successful schemes include:

  • Ongoing feedback and coaching by senior managers

  • Providing motivation through goal-setting and feedback

  • Demonstrating management’s commitment to safety

  • Improving co-operation and communication

  • Changing employee perceptions of management’s safety commitment

  • Providing a workable definition of save behaviour that people can apply to their tasks

  • Removing barriers to working safely


One organisation who has successfully worked to achieve a much improved safety record is leading construction company Skanska. Skanska has created a safe working environment where they have removed the blame from accident and near miss reporting. They have created a culture of positive reinforcement for reporting any near misses through a charity donation scheme which benefits Mencap. So for every near miss reported, Skanska donates a minimum of £1.00 to Mencap. Every accident that is eliminated as a result, Skanska donates £500.

This is a very different attitude, and sadly not uncommon, of a large steel business who directed their team leaders to avoid filling in near miss forms, as it would reveal that someone was doing ‘something stupid’.

Behavioural safety appears to work mainly by improving staff-management communication and educating people in a practical manner. Key to making this effective is to ensure that all interventions focus as much on management and leadership style as on ‘habitual behaviour’. Indeed, there is much evidence that many of the outcomes achieved by behavioural safety schemes can be equally achieved by less packaged approaches such as safety orientated ‘support and challenge groups’ and effective safety leadership.

The key aspect in the success of any scheme seems to be through creating management role models in relation to safety requirements and safety non compliance.

Acorn’s approach to making behaviour safety work

Acorn has developed a series of Behavioural Safety modules that help clients review and define best practice in the area of leadership. Acorn then links leadership training into performance management systems by reinforcing key messages and highlighting business drivers surrounding leadership and safety performance.

In consultation with clients, Acorn has developed a 360° feedback process which helps focus on key areas as a business leader from which delegates build on their strengths and develop their weaknesses. Once the evaluation is complete, Acorn works with managers, coaching and helping them understand the feedback and implications of the evaluation on their behaviour.

Acorn’s approach helps leaders understand more about their own behaviour and how it influences others particularly in the area of heath and safety working practices. It also helps them develop positive safety strategies that eliminate blame and encourage a positive attitude through out the organisation.

Key services offered by Acorn for Behavioural Safety include:

  • Analysis of current leadership and Behavioural Based Safety (BBS) competence

  • Creation of communication strategies to support safety and overall cultural change

  • Design and facilitation of conferences to engage managers in the issues behind BBS

  • Development and management/leadership improvement strategies

  • Leadership development programmes and leadership coaching

  • Group and Team coaching to improve BBS performance


Click here for more information or call us on 01539 741511

Click here for a case study on Acorn's work in behavioural safety.

Click here to read about Acorn's behavioural safety work in the rail industry

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