An old industrial safety tool with new nuances
To have a confidential conversation with frontline staff and workers, learn about industrial safety issues, and understand the shop floor's pulse — these are the goals every manager should set for themselves.
A safety walkaround, or a "leadership walkaround" as we call it, differs from scheduled inspections in that it is built on trust. Our goal is not to punish for violations, but to build a dialogue with employees, identify the issues that concern people, and resolve them.
During the walkaround, the focus is on identifying risks that lead to hazardous situations, evaluating the effectiveness of various tools, and checking the progress of repairs and the production process. For department employees, this is an opportunity to ask any question "here and now": from equipment modernization and PPE provision to work organization and facility issues. For the manager, it is a way to establish communication and receive direct feedback: no one knows the problems arising in production better than the worker. Often, employees can also suggest the best ways to eliminate them.
There can also be themed safety walkarounds; for example, today we are identifying slip, trip, and fall risks. We talked to people and also noted positive aspects. The results of the shop floor visit will be recorded on the HSE portal. After being classified by hazard category, the risks will be eliminated.
Our company has already actively involved every employee with subordinates in the practice of safety walkarounds. After all, a leader is not just the CEO, but a manager at any level: by conducting safety walkarounds and identifying problems with the help of workers, they can organize production more effectively.