Supervisors have a difficult job and a great deal of responsibility. Balancing resources, production, quality, and yes, health and safety.
In order for a supervisor to successfully manage health and safety in the workplace and lead others to safe outcomes, organizations must first define safety expectations, and the system or processes required to achieve these objectives. Once defined, supervisors can then be responsible and accountable for their duties and responsibilities defined in health and safety policies and procedures as well as obligations outlined by specific jurisdictional legislation. Doesn’t this sound easy? Well, it’s not without its challenges but it doesn’t have to be extremely difficult.
There are fundamental aspects to managing safety and behaviour in the workplace. In this article we will be discussing defining clear expectations, conducting hazard and risk assessments, and monitoring and managing compliance.
Defining Clear Expectations
Organizations must clearly define goals, targets and compliance expectations prior to the start of the job or project. Supervisors must have a full understanding of the health and safety measures in place, what is required to maintain them and how this is to be achieved. Job tasks must be defined, planned, communicated, and executed according to plan and then measured and evaluated.
With the above defined, supervisors should then be able to identify substandard acts, practices or deviations from set plans. This can be achieved through formal and documented inspections, meetings, pre-shift discussions or toolbox talks, and
monitoring. Any deviations from health and safety plans must be acted on immediately and corrective action identified and documented.
Conducting Hazard Assessments and Evaluating Risk
Supervisors must apply their competency when it comes to recognizing, assessing,
controlling, and evaluating hazards. Most definitions of competency across Canada
speak to this fact, having knowledge about job tasks and hazards so that adequate
information instruction and supervision can be provided to the worker. In addition to
regular job tasks, many work environments change frequently throughout the day so it is important that supervisors recognize tasks performed outside of the identified scope of work and evaluate any new hazards that may be presented and take action to mitigate them.
It is also important that risk assessments are reviewed to ensure they are current,
adequate, and the identified controls are being implemented. If hazards or deviations have been identified, the supervisor must determine which control strategies to apply and then communicate and document changes.
Managing and Monitoring Compliance
Legislation in Canada prescribes that the employer develops and implements a health and safety system to ensure reasonable precautions are taken for worker protection and compliance with applicable legislative obligations. Supervisors are part of this process.
Employers should establish a safety system, educate supervisors with respect to their roles and responsibilities within the system and then carry out the responsibilities assigned to them.
In order to successfully manage compliance within the system, supervisors must be
familiar with the standards and written practices that apply to the work being performed. Failure to be familiar can leave supervisors facing some tough questions if something goes wrong.
Monitoring work or job-site activity is crucial to safety success. Supervisors must verify that standards and procedures are in place and being followed through routine inspections. Results must be documented. Commending positive performance is just as important as noting deficiencies.
Monitoring can also involve performing behaviour-based observations. These
observations provide opportunities to assess worker understanding, and compliance with safe work practices and procedures. This may involve orienting workers new to a position or task, confirming workers understand hazards and controls, observing behaviour and taking the time to address positive and negative safety performance. All actions must be documented.
Workers must have the knowledge, skill and ability to perform assigned tasks.
Supervisors should verify worker training and competency requirements through
documented audits and conversations. As we all know, lack of training can equate to lack of knowledge and therefore skill, leaving workers exposed to the potential risk of injury or illness.
Monitoring also involves monitoring the safety equipment to be used in the workplace. Supervisors must verify that inspection and maintenance of equipment has been completed, guarding is in place, and training on specific equipment is in place.
Being a supervisor is one of the toughest jobs you can have. As a supervisor you must lead by example and develop positive work habits that support organizational objectives. Safety should not be different than other company objectives, it needs to be planned, communicated, carried out and evaluated for effectiveness. Keeping this in mind and being vigilant to ensure safety is integrated is one step that will help others make it home safely at the end of the day.
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You can trust MSW Safety to provide you with cost-effective training solutions tailored to meet your organization’s unique health and safety needs.
To ask to learn more, contact us online or call 1-877-488-3329. Visit us 24/7 on the web at mswsafety.ca
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