Most safety professionals can tell stories about how workplace injuries are hidden so that bonuses or rewards are still distributed even though they are not warranted. Most of these examples are at the shop-floor level where rewards, although much anticipated, are minor – first aid kits, movie tickets, sometimes money – and where peer pressure can be quite … Continue reading “UK case exposes the hypocrisy of leadership commitment”
Can a country be run in a similar way to running a business? Does corporate leadership equate to political leadership? It would be possible to find examples in support of both these questions and as much evidence to counter them but the contextual difference is important to note when considering leadership in general. A crucial difference in the two sectors is … Continue reading “Does corporate leadership equate to political leadership?”
Guest contributor Jim Ward writes: Interested observers of past OHS failures would do well to pay close attention to the insights of former BP employee Ross Macfarlane in the SafetyAtWorkBlog – A personal insight into BP and the corporate approach to safety. His erudite observations of some of the underlying issues surrounding BP’s succession of … Continue reading “Leadership starts with the truth”
Australia is behind in many things and in front of the rest of world in others. A recent visit by Jon Katzenbach, senior partner with Booz & Company, to Australia indicates that we are lagging on the issue of organisational change. According to an article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on 11 May 2010, Katzenbach … Continue reading “Safety leadership and change through informal networks”
At the launch of a new guidance for higher education students in late November 2009, Judith Hackett CBE, chair of the Health & Safety Executive spoke at length on a range of interesting matters but one section on leadership was particularly interesting: “Strong leadership, engagement and a common sense approach are key to effective health … Continue reading “HSE executive talks about OHS Leadership”
Scandinavia produces some of the best research into OHS issues. However, due to the social structure of Scandinavian countries, the research has little direct and practical application outside the region. The research is best taken conceptually as it will need to be evaluated closely to determine local applicability. (TIP: whenever an OHS researcher says “recent Scandinavian studies … Continue reading “Leadership – research, mental health and what true leadership is.”
At last week’s Comcare conference there was considerable discussion about leadership and social capital. Coincidentally, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower is running a Human Capital Summit this week. The summit program indicates how these two concepts are dominating human resources and, through osmosis, other management streams such as OHS. Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s Prime Minister provided the opening address on 29 September 2009. In the speech … Continue reading “Singapore’s Prime Minister speaks about business leadership”