Making safety a priority

Oct 08th

This week leaders in organisations that claim to make safety their priority have probably had a sustained aha moment.

On Wednesday I attended a leadership forum, alog with about 100 senior safety leaders, organised by AKT productions. It put the spotlight firmly on leaders by getting them to ‘Think Again’ through an engaging dramatisation of BP’s Texas City and Deepwater Horizon tragedies.

On Thursday there was a full page feature in the Financial Times under the hard hitting headline: ‘A sea change needed’. It was evaluating the last chance BP’s new CEO, Bob Dudley, has to transform the organisation’s culture to embrace safety and risk awareness at all levels. The decisive action needed is much more than setting up a separate safety and risk department. Safety needs to be integrated into every activity and, as one industry expert commented: “the question is : has BP got the leadership to drive these changes through?”

Today I am Reading about the environmental impact of the Hungarian chemical spillage that has reached the River Danube. I am sure that these recent events are enough to create the momentum for a radical rethink of leadership accountability for safety and sustainability. It should now be top of every leader’s agenda.

This article is filed under: organisational culture, safety