Leadership and Safety – Safety Speaker John Drebinger

Are you a leader in your organization? Last week, I heard a plant manager comment at their safety meeting that there are two types of safety leaders – safety leaders by position and safety leaders by choice. Which one are you? If you have a title of leadership because of your job, you are a safety leader by position. It is critically important to realize that leaders set the bar when it comes to values and safety is a value. When you value safety as a leader, you make choices and decisions that are supported by or display that value.

Also, if you are a leader by position, you need to realize that you are the key person responsible for the safety of your employees. If you don’t decide to take this responsibility and ensure the safety of your workplace, you risk finding out after an injury that you could have made a difference and prevented that injury. Great leaders are proactive and make sure everyone from the first-line supervisor on up has safety as one of their core values. As a safety speaker I have interviewed some true safety champions.