Why a committed leadership is the first step towards a Safety Culture

  • RamonParamio
  • Ramón Paramio
  • MAXAM Terra Solutions General Manager
  • AndreaSK
  • Andrea Sánchez Krellenberg
  • MAXAM Health & Safety Director


Safety is a matter that concerns us all, starting with the leadership team. Only by leading by example we will be able to improve our Safety standards, go further in our Safety Culture and support our customers.

September 2019


Safety is a key element in every organization and in fact, it is getting more and more important. However, the real challenge is to make it tangible, not just words and good intentions. Therefore, it is key to implement an excellent safety management system which has three main elements to be considered:

1. Safety culture
2. Anticipation
3. Operative discipline

We all have a clear goal at MAXAM: that each employee comes back home at the same conditions that they arrived at work. And in order to do so, to improve our safety standards every day, it is fundamental the role of the leadership team. Each manager must lead by example and contribute every day to foster safety within our organization.

One of the main tools implemented at MAXAM to show this commitment is the Safety Dialogues. These are informal conversations with the members of a team at the office, when visiting an operation or a manufacturing facility, travelling etc. in which discuss and understand which the main challenges are faced by our teams and how can we, as leaders, can support and help them.

In fact, the Safety Dialogues are such a key element to measure the efforts done by all our organization in order to identify potential improvements that it is a performance indicator of all our leaders.

 

 

We are also measuring these improvements with the Bradley Curve, which defines the level of development of the Safety Culture in an organization. It highlights the importance of the leadership role in promoting this safety Culture so that, eventually, each employee, no matter their role, becomes a safety leader. We have to be always proactive and accountable to develop a safer working environment every day together with our customers.

Part of this proactivity and accountability is the report of near misses. These are events in which there has not been any accident or incident but could have happened. This report is key to identify potential issues and implement the applicable measures to prevent any future accident or incident.

We have a key role towards our customers, as at MAXAM we have to become not only a business partner but also a partner that goes beyond and contributes to improve our customers’ operations safety. In fact, our efforts to anticipate risks and be proactive is becoming a competitive advantage for us in the market.

Only with the full and actual commitment of the leadership team with Safety we will improve our Safety Culture.

And Safety is always first.

 


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