One you have decided on your journey to safety excellence, your next major task is to outline the roles and responsibilities for each member of the management team as it relates to the safety process. These specific roles and responsibilities will help to define the types of leadership skills that are necessary to support the safety management system. Management styles are important to understand. For example, the role of a top management may be to hold direct reports (such as managers and supervisors), accountable for their actions toward to their safety objectives, provide the necessary resources that are required, i.e., time and financial support, and to demonstrate leadership by actively participating in specific safety functions.

Each management and/or supervision position, as well as all employees in the organization, should have some level of specific “responsibilities” that are clearly defined. Managers and supervisors must have specific safety activities built into their individual performance plans that they are required to perform on a routine basis. The maturity of your safety culture will determine how the specific activities are developed and the quality of the results demonstrated by top management and supervision. Employees should also have specific responsibilities clearly defined and well communicated. For example, complete a specific safety training program as part of a job-bid transfer, assisting management to find and fix hazards.

The important concept here is to ensure that all individuals in an organization is held accountable for their actions. Without some level of safety activities built in the safety management system a safety culture will never become mature enough to stand on its own merit. The key to a successful safety management system is to ensure that if someone leaves a position, gets transferred, that the process will continue to improve.