Workplace Safety: The Benefits of Individual Mentoring

I was asked by a waste management company to visit one of its sites and make some recommendations with respect to improving its safety performance.

The safety performance at the site was unacceptable, and the site management team were at a loss with respect to how to address the issue. They believed the problems were related to the quality of the workforce and the workforce behaviour.

After visiting the site and spending time talking to a number of people (at all levels and in all roles), it very quickly became apparent that the communication between the management and the workers was dysfunctional at best.

The operators were unhappy. They believed they were doing a great job and that they were

satisfying the operational requirements under trying circumstances. They also believed there were a number of high-risk hazards on site that management were ignoring, and that management did not understand the day-to-day issues they had to cope with.

The maintenance people were also unhappy. They believed they were doing a great job keeping the equipment operating. In their view, the operators did not take due care of the equipment when using it, and management were not 'sorting out' the operators.

Management believed both the operators and the maintenance people were not hearing (or paying heed to) the messages management were issuing with respect to safety, taking care of the plant and equipment, and each other. I met with management at the end of the day, gave them a summary of my findings and recommendations, and followed that up with a written report. They accepted the findings and agreed to the recommendations. 

Over a relatively short period of time, I coached and mentored management in Visible Leadership and ways to improve the flow of communication, both up and down, so that the message would be received and understood. I also provided assistance to identify and address the higher risk issues on site.

Within a few short months, the improvement in attitude and performance was evident. That improvement has continued to the extent that the site is now seen as the best-performing site in the organisation. The two managers on site were added to the company's Rising Star Program which identifies and provides additional training and mentoring to the people the company wants to retain and lift to the upper levels of the organisation. I was approached to provide that mentoring.

Jim Neilson has over 40 years experience at Bluescope Steel as a Shift Supervisor and Manager in the Slabmaking Department.