Apr 08, 2020 | By David Turberfield
When serious safety incidents occur, investigations often conclude that somebody did something they should not have done – or failed to do something they should have done. At first glance, this can make safety appear primarily to be a frontline workforce issue. But frontline behaviour does not develop in isolation. Over time, people learn what truly matters within an organisation from the behaviour of leaders: what gets rewarded, what gets tolerated, how production pressure is handled and how leaders respond when things go wrong. In this sense, accidents often reveal something deeper about organisational culture and leadership.
Many organisations still approach safety primarily through compliance, enforcement and discipline. Rules, procedures and accountability systems are important, but compliance alone rarely creates a strong safety culture. In environments where leaders engage around safety mainly as “policemen”, people often become defensive. Concerns are hidden, reporting deteriorates and valuable learning is lost.
One of the most important shifts organisations can make is moving leaders from a policing mindset towards a coaching mindset. I sometimes describe this as the difference between a policeman and a doctor. People naturally become cautious around policing and enforcement. They minimise exposure, protect themselves and may avoid speaking openly. The relationship people have with doctors is usually very different. A good doctor listens, asks questions, diagnoses problems and works collaboratively towards improvement. Strong safety cultures are built far more on trust, curiosity and learning than fear and blame.
This does not mean abandoning standards or accountability. Rather, it means recognising that leaders have a profound influence on whether people feel able to speak honestly about operational pressures, weak controls and emerging risks before incidents occur. Many senior leaders have never formally learned how to engage, listen and coach effectively around safety. They often rise through organisations because of technical expertise, operational performance or commercial capability. Safety coaching helps leaders strengthen their ability to influence culture positively through better field engagement, communication, listening and reflection.
Importantly, this work needs to start at the top. The behaviours of senior leaders – what they pay attention to, how they react under pressure, the questions they ask and the conversations they encourage – shape organisational culture continuously. People watch leaders closely. Often, leaders underestimate how powerfully their own behaviour influences the organisation around them.
Real safety culture transformation requires more than procedures and systems. It requires leaders to become more intentional, more self-aware and more curious about the reality of work as it is actually performed. Strong safety leadership is ultimately not about controlling people. It is about creating the conditions in which people feel able to speak openly, learn continuously and manage risk together more effectively.
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