In January 2019, I began working with Minerva Foods in its operations in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The training reached leadership teams at all manufacturing sites served, covering safety leadership, risk perception, and behavioral observation.
Develop leaders’ awareness
People who oversee a team’s work need to understand risks and recognize their own responsibility in relation to them. That is why I see value in developing leadership, risk perception, and behavioral observation together.
Observation requires attention to people’s work. Leaders also need to prepare to talk about what they perceive and to consider safety in their decisions.
Make space for dialogue
We also developed the Daily Safety Dialogue Calendar. The calendar organizes the schedule of conversations and provides a reference for returning to the topic in daily work.
There is an important consideration in using this resource: a safety conversation needs the attention of those taking part. The time reserved in the schedule gains meaning when there is a willingness to listen and reflect on the work. I consider this a responsibility both of the person leading the dialogue and of the leaders supporting it.