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Safety Culture

By Martin Royal Serious incidents rarely occur because people “don’t care about safety.” They occur because decisions are made in contexts that differ sharply from the conditions under which safety policies, procedures, and commitments were designed. This gap between intention and action, planning and execution, is best understood as the Emotion–Context Disconnect. For senior leaders, this is not a frontline issue. It is a governance, system design, and leadership challenge that directly affects operational reliability, workforce trust, and enterprise risk. Safety Risk Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Compliance Problem Modern organizations operate in environments defined by competing priorities: productivity, cost control, customer demand, regulatory

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By Martin Royal Many organizations require executives to complete a set number of field visits or safety observations. While well-intentioned, using the frequency of these visits as a metric misses the real point. Effective executive safety leadership is measured not by how often leaders go to the field, but by how precisely they observe, engage, and reinforce the behaviors that prevent serious injuries and fatalities. When an executive enters an operational area, every interaction sends a signal that either strengthens or erodes the safety culture. The question is not whether leaders should conduct field visits, but whether those visits are purposefully

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By Martin Royal The Visible Leadership Paradox Over the years, I've had the opportunity to interview many workers in various industries, and a common theme often emerges: Executives are a significant source of distraction and, as a result, a potential safety liability when showing up at the work site. Some crews even stop work entirely when a manager, especially a senior or executive-level leader, arrives, creating a dilemma. On the one hand, we encourage leaders to be more visible, to prioritize site visits, and to conduct safety observations. Conversely, many leaders are hesitant because they've bought into the narrative that "managers are a

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By Josh Williams, Ph.D. Early last year, we began working with a fleet-related company to conduct a comprehensive safety culture assessment. Despite a very strong commitment from their COO, they faced a number of challenges that impacted their safety culture. This included extremely high turnover, excessive time pressure, and insufficient safety ownership. They had recently experienced several fatalities, and their accreditation status was in jeopardy. After conducting a kickoff session with key stakeholders, we conducted a series of assessment activities, including a safety culture survey, 50+ onsite interviews and focus groups, safety artifact reviews, and onsite observations. Once done, we provided

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By Josh Williams, Ph.D. Decades of research show that IQ is one of the best predictors of success for organizational leaders. This should be no surprise since strong analytical skills are needed to deal with numerous competing challenges at higher organizational levels. However, EQ, or emotional intelligence quotient, may be equally important. One study showed that 71% of executives value EQ over IQ with their leaders (https://www.careerbuilder.ca), and another showed that 93% of employees said they’d remain loyal to an employer whose leaders show genuine concern for their well-being (https://hcamag.com). So, what is emotional intelligence? EQ reflects our ability to recognize our

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By Josh Williams, Ph.D. In late 2021, we began working with a leading chemical manufacturing company to revamp their behavior-based safety (BBS) program. This organization has a strong safety culture and emphasizes safety as a core value. However, their BBS program had grown stale. This was due to an overly long checklist and overemphasis on quotas which led to “pencil whipping” cards and very negative perceptions of the program. Recognizing these limitations, we worked with EHS leaders to create an entirely new BeHOP® process which combined the best elements of both Behavior-Based Safety and Human and Organizational Performance. One of the

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