At Safety 2012, David Galt, senior legal editor for BLR, offered seven tips that safety professionals can follow when trying to convince management, and particularly the CFO, to invest in safety:
Step 1: Identify the business value drivers. To do this, review annual reports, learn business terminology and observe what Galt called "the winners"--those who get resources and people from management.
Step 2: Identify costs and losses. Here, Galt says, be sure to focus on risk of future loss as well as existing losses. Future losses are a key leading indicator for CFOs, he said.
Step 3: Identify investments in safety. What activities are being done for safety, what tasks are involved and what investment is being made.
Step 4: Link activities to the business drivers identified in step 1. This draws the path from safety to business outcomes clearly.
Step 5: Measure performance. What gets measured (correctly) gets attention.
Step 6: Communicate results. Make sure the results are relevant and communicated in business terms. And, more than anything, Galt advised, make your communications concise--otherwise you risk losing your audience.
Step 7: Follow up. To be effective, follow up must be regular, consistent, and should indicate progress on tangibles and intangibles.
A Blog From the American Society of Safety Engineers