Changing the Target Process for HSE Issues: Barriers and Solutions

The transition to the Vision Zero concept often crashes against harsh production realities: declarative goals do not work if the motivation system encourages hiding incidents. During the webinar, speaker Ekaterina Rogova uses the Metalloinvest company as an example to analyze the process of transforming goal-setting in Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE). The presentation details how abandoning formal slogans in favor of an adaptive performance management system helped turn the tide on severe injuries.

The Evolution of KPIs: From Strict Directives to Proactivity

The speaker demonstrates through her company's example that achieving "target zero" instantly is impossible. Following a series of severe incidents in 2020, the focus shifted to the systematic elimination of risks. In the first stage, the company implemented strict KPIs for top executives in key areas: gas and transport safety, as well as contractor management. This made it possible to eliminate group fatal injuries.

Only after stabilizing basic processes were proactive indicators introduced into the goal-setting system. The presentation examines the transition mechanism in detail: from incorporating change programs into operational goals to rewarding managers for accepting employees' refusals to perform unsafe work.

"Territory Norm" and "Work Norm": Step-by-Step Creation of a Safe Environment

Safety cannot be built exclusively from an office. The speaker analyzes the concept of shared responsibility and the phased formation of a safety culture:

• Territory Norm. A basic condition where an employee cannot get injured simply by being in the workshop. To implement this stage, a "risk hunt" was launched — a process of engaging personnel in finding and eliminating potential hazards at their workplaces.
• Work Norm. The safe execution of specific production operations. At this stage, the employee's right to refuse a task if they see a lack of protective guards or other violations becomes critically important.
• Leader Norm. Building high-quality interaction between managers and line personnel, cascading training, and supporting bottom-up initiatives.

Overcoming Barriers and Cross-Functional Collaboration

Special attention in the report is given to integrating HSE goals into adjacent departments. The speaker notes that safety depends on the work of HR, IT, and PR services. For example, changing the role model of the PR department allowed for a transition to the open coverage of accidents in corporate media: from describing the fact itself to publishing lessons learned and measures taken. This radically increased employees' trust in the system.

To engage production managers, a tactic of gradual implementation was used: initially, project tasks (for example, covering sectors with the "risk hunt") were set as unofficial goals outside the main KPI perimeter. Once managers mastered the tool and understood its value, the indicator was upgraded to official status.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to decompose the global goal of zero injuries into achievable stages and operational KPIs?
• How to engage production managers in risk management without rejection and sabotage?
• How to properly build a reward system for refusing unsafe work so that it does not cause conflicts in the team?
• How to use cross-functional KPIs to transform corporate culture and increase incident transparency?
• What metrics and tools help measure the real change in the role model of managers?