Safety policies, rules, systems, procedures, and training are developed with the best intentions: to enhance overall safety performance and ensure everyone returns home safely each day.

Even well-intended leaders can inadvertently communicate or act in ways that conflict with the intended culture. Leaders' behaviour strongly influences the safety culture, determining the daily reality employees experience.  

As an executive leader overseeing multiple major hazard facilities in both New Zealand and Canada, Brian has learned from personal experience how challenging it can be to ensure that my own behaviours align with and enhance the intended safety culture.  

• Even the best written rules, policies and procedures are not enough to prevent mistakes.
• Your response could enhance or limit the ability to learn when mistakes occur.
• Other, unnoticed, environmental, and cultural aspects in the workplace that shape behaviours (often after an incident these become known).
• A high level of trust and genuine care in the workplace is critical for genuine progress.
• High-trust workplaces underpin the desired safety culture.
• Developing behaviours that align with the intended safety culture.
• Avoiding behaviours that undermine the desired safety culture.
• Strategies to address behaviours that could derail the desired safety culture.

High Trust leads to:

Higher levels of productivity – extending high trust to employees typically leads them to feel empowered make decisions and allowing them to work more effectively.  Decisions can be made quicker.

Enhanced Safety Culture – in a high trust environment employees feel safe raising concerns, admitting mistakes, providing full disclosure and transparency when things go wrong leading to better learning outcomes.

Higher employee engagement and retention – people in high trust environments tend to feel valued and respected for their contribution, regardless of their level/role within the organisation, leading to increased loyalty and commitment to company success.

Innovation and collaboration – in high trust environments people are not inclined to want to protect their patch or withhold ideas/information, ideas flow freely because it is not a competition within the organisation.  There are no hidden agendas.  

• What does a high trust working environment look like?
• What are the benefits of high trust to an organisation?
• What erodes trust in an organisation?
• Even though generally well-intended how do leaders influence levels of trust within an organisation?
• What is critical for high trust?