Safety 2012's Executive Summit, sponsored by BP, touched on the value of safety, safety professional expectations and what SH&E professionals can do to contribute toward their companies' best safety performance. The panel's executives included: Gregory Smith, of URENCO USA; Al Troppman, of PCL Enterprises; Steve Lockton, of Lockton Companies; and Kelly Wadding, of Quality Pork Processes. In case you missed it, here are some quotes from the panel.
On the role of safety:
"Safety is a core value of our organization. The important thing is to put it on a personal level. Once they recognize safety, they pay better attention to it." - Al Troppman
"Safety is a cornerstone of our company. The personal responsibility is to keep everyone safe. We work every day to keep awareness up and make people understand that safety culture is the most important." - Kelly Wadding
On the value of safety:
"Instill in workers that safety comes first when planning work. You've got to plan to work safely and productivity will follow." -Al Troppmann
"Capture their attention in the safety arena and that attention carries over to the quality arena." - Gregory Smith
On the challenges:
"Our best employees are sometimes our biggest challenge becasue they have a passion for what they're doing. Results are unacceptable if they are produced from unsafe actions." - Gregory Smith
"We've seen that the industry has made huge strides in improvement in loss prevention and safety. "I'm concerned with complacency." That concerns me almost as much as anything." - Steve Lockton
"Clients expect very excellent safety records. Without that we don't get invited to the party." - Al Troppman
On what they expect from SH&E professionals:
"The truth. That's what I expect. I want the truth. I want to know what's really going on." He goes on to say, "If you work for a boss who can't take the truth, go find yourself another job." - Gregory Smith
"I ask safety people to be involved in every meeting we have. If your name is not on the invite list, put it on." - Kelly Wadding
On how to communicate with upper management:
"Craft a hard hitting message that helps the company exceed its goals. Be succinct and to the point." - Steve Lockton
Additional advice for SH&E professionals:
"When you get good at getting people to do the right thing because they want to, that's a magic elixer. That's what everybody wants in a leader. When you find someone who has that skills set, it makes amazing things happen." - Gregory Smith
"We rely on your expertise and knowledge base. We want them [safety professionals] to be creative and keep us on the leading edge of what we need to do." - Al Troppman
A Blog From the American Society of Safety Engineers