To improve safety culture, managers must know what is happening in the field

A manager must spend time with their teams in the field, if he or she wants to know what staff are doing. From safety visits to more informal visits, managers must regularly spend time in the field, observe what is happening, listen, and become part of life on-site, at the factory, and within their teams.

Spending time in the field is, therefore, one of the expectations of safety leadership.

So, how do you go about this?

In his Thoughts on Safety Culture, Damien Santa-Maria examines the position of the middle manager in detail. This key person lies at the intersection between top management, and what is happening in the field. He or she is able to transmit information and drive safety. Damien recommends that managers regularly spend time in the field – and not for any particular reason. He offers some practical, operational guidelines, while, at the same time, acknowledging the constraints and obstacles that managers encounter on a day-to-day basis.