Plenary Session "Leaders on the Frontline: How CEOs Ensure Enterprise Safety Through Active Dialogue with Owners and Operational Staff"

The problem of distorting information about technical and production risks when passing it from the bottom up remains one of the main challenges for large industrial enterprises. According to research presented by the session moderator Dmitry Chernov, in 87% of cases, operational staff do not report real on-site problems to higher management. The reason lies not only with line employees but also with the position of top management, who are often under pressure from short-term financial goals set by shareholders.

The Illusion of Well-being: Why the Management Vertical Hides Risks

Top managers are often reluctant to broadcast information about critical risks to owners. Disclosing long-standing problems requires significant investment and can be perceived as a sign of incompetence, posing a direct threat to a manager's career. In turn, business owners often expect hired managers to solve problems independently, without involving them in operational details and additional costs.

However, the situation is changing. The entry into force of new legislative requirements (in particular, amendments to Federal Law 116-FZ) obliges organizations to provide the results of industrial safety management system audits directly to founders and collegial management bodies. This means that owners can no longer distance themselves from technical and production risks — in the event of an accident, their ignorance will not exempt them from liability, up to criminal liability under Article 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority).

From Subjective Reports to Transparent Metrics

To build a constructive dialogue between the CEO and shareholders, a transition from emotional discussions to the language of numbers is necessary. The presentation detailed an approach in which the level of critical risk manageability is assessed as objectively as financial indicators. Using data from automated systems (for example, personnel positioning systems or gas analyzers) eliminates the human factor and provides a reliable picture of the state of safety barriers to the top.

For systematic work with this information, the speakers recommend structuring the work of specialized committees. The escalation of problems should occur in stages: from analyzing micro-injuries at the shop floor level to bringing unresolved issues of financing critical risks to the Board of Directors level.

Safety as a Business Function

A key factor in the transformation is a paradigm shift: risk management must become the task of business units, not exclusively the HSE department. The evolution of owners' attitudes towards assets also plays an important role. Modern owners of large companies increasingly think in terms of long-term sustainability. In conditions where restoring critical infrastructure after an accident requires colossal costs, preventive investments in safety become economically justified. When the owner sets a long-term planning horizon and perceives safety as the "immunity of the enterprise," top management receives the necessary support for an open discussion of problems.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• Why 87% of employees keep silent about production risks and how to break this chain of silence?
• How new legislative requirements change the level of involvement and responsibility of business owners?
• How to use data from automated systems to form objective safety metrics for the Board of Directors?
• How to structure the work of committees so that risk information reaches top management without distortion?
• How to argue to shareholders the need for investments in eliminating critical risks, relying on a long-term strategy?