Managing Critical Risks is Easy! But Only Together

From Accidents to Proactive Risk Management

The development of a safety culture often begins with turning points. At Metalloinvest, a series of incidents in 2019 became a catalyst for implementing the Risk Management System and Manager Safety Standards. Ivan Varenkov, Senior Training Coach at Mikhailovsky GOK, explains how the company transitioned from a reactive to a proactive approach by focusing on the engagement of managers and frontline employees.

Transforming the Manager's Role

Any change starts with leaders. The presentation details the manager training process, which began with two-day sessions. However, theory alone is not enough. To consolidate skills in practice, occupational risk management specialists were introduced in each structural unit. They help managers overcome "tunnel vision" and learn to spot hazards in familiar workplaces.

The speaker highlights three key roles of a manager in the new system:

• Production engagement: A manager must not only know about problems but also actively participate in safety activities.
• Risk management: Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of production, and the ability to develop effective corrective actions.
• Change leadership: The manager is the main standard-bearer. If they demand compliance with rules but ignore them themselves, the system will not work.

Engaging Workers: From Distrust to Active Participation

Top management sees only a small fraction of the actual risks in production. The real treasure trove of knowledge about hazards is the workers. Initially, however, they were reluctant to share information due to distrust and the habit of their comments being ignored. The speaker uses an example to show how the company overcame this barrier through cascading meetings and inviting workers to meetings with management. When employees saw that their problems were being discussed and resolved, the level of trust grew significantly.

To simplify the risk recording process, a mobile app was developed. Now, every employee can report a hazard, non-compliance, or note positive observations. Gamification became an additional incentive: points are awarded for registering risks, which can be exchanged for branded goods in the corporate market.

Risk Specialists: A New Staff Position

To ensure the system works effectively, risk specialists were added to the staff. Unlike traditional HSE inspectors, their task is not to punish violations, but to look for root causes and help managers develop corrective actions. Most of these specialists, like the training coaches, were selected from among experienced workers. This ensures a high level of trust from the team and a deep understanding of production processes.

Results and Future Development

The systematic approach yielded tangible results: the LTIFR dropped from 1.11 in 2019 to 0.6 in 2024. The company plans to further shift training from classrooms directly to the production floor, where coaches will conduct line walks alongside managers, reinforcing risk identification skills in real conditions.

What You Will Learn from This Webinar:

• How to overcome worker distrust and motivate them to report risks?
• Why are dedicated risk specialists needed, and why is it better to recruit them from among the workers?
• How does the gamification and material motivation system for recording hazards work?
• How to organize the processing of hundreds of risk reports and ensure their quality elimination?
• What KPIs help engage managers with years of experience in the new safety culture?