Engaged Safety Culture Workshop: Equipping Leaders to Create Safe Work Environments

Launched this year as part of the Leadership Engagement Workshop Series, the “Engaged Safety Culture” workshop equips facility leaders with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively engage employees and create a workplace culture focused on safety.

Designed by Mathew Ralph, former Langley, Canada Small Packaging Plastics plant manager, the Leadership Engagement Workshop Series focuses on a variety of topics through workshops developed specifically for Mauser supervisors and plant managers. The “Engaged Safety Culture” workshop is the third course launched as part of this series and teaches supervisors and frontline leaders to effectively engage with employees regarding safety.

“We have come a long way in improving our safety metrics as a company, but to take the next step to becoming best in class in regard to safety, we have the right leadership and an environment where employees feel comfortable raising concerns or improvement ideas,” commented Ralph.

Leaders set the priorities for their employees through their actions more than their words. Employees may hear that safety is a value, but often the actions and behaviors of leaders demonstrate that there are other more important priorities. The “Engaged Safety Culture” workshop focuses on how leadership behavior impacts the safety culture of a facility and provides leaders with strategies and techniques for having effective engagement with employees.

A positive safety culture is not measured in the absence of injury but rather in the presence of engagement.

Developing a safety culture is challenging and is centers on the ability to positively influence employee behavior and mindsets. This workshop aims to provide leaders with a foundational knowledge of a safety culture and understanding of how leader behavior and actions impacts that culture. The workshop focuses on three primary areas:

Understanding a safety culture
During this portion of the workshop, participants gain a general understanding of core elements for developing committed safety behaviors and actions. Additionally, participants are provided an overview of core components of Mauser’s safety culture including the Global Health and Safety Policy, Life Saving Rules, stages of a safety culture and workplace organization.

Individual behavior as a leader
This section of the workshop focuses on leader characteristics, traits and behaviors and explores how these attributes contribute to a leader’s ability to influence and manage safety issues.

Essentials for nurturing a safety culture
The final portion of the workshop explores crucial tools and strategies need to nurture safety cultures such as safety communication, safety work observations, safety Gemba walks and delivery of toolbox talks.

Initial workshop sessions were held during June this year in conjunction with Mauser’s safety emphasis during the month. Thus far 165 managers, supervisors and support personnel have participated in this workshop. An additional eight workshops, targeting 80 employees, are planned for the remainder of 2023. Sessions are facilitated by Ralph and Jason Hopper, Plant Manager (Roseville, CA – NAIP). “Jason is doing a great job leading these workshops. In addition to the development provided by the training, opening facilitation opportunities is another way we can invest in the growth and development of leaders within the company,” commented Ralph.

Facility leaders interested in scheduling a session for supervisors at their location should contact Matt Ralph or your Human Resources Director.