We’ve all seen the slogan: “safety is everybody’s business.” No argument there. A positive safety culture requires teamwork. But there’s a funny thing about teams: if no one’s in charge of the action items, everyone assumes that it’s “someone else’s business” to take care of them. And nothing actually gets done.
Every effective safety program has a safety coordinator. In some cases, the coordinator is a GM or high-level executive. If that approach works for your dealership, stick to it, because senior management involvement is key to a positive safety culture. However, many dealerships find that the safety coordinator position is most effective if it’s filled by someone who works closely with employees on the shop floor:
- Service managers
- Shop foremen
- Body shop managers
- HR managers
A safety coordinator leads the charge each month, coordinating meetings, deadlines and action items, making sure people are assigned and accountable… basically, making sure that safety really is everybody’s business.
KPA’s seen a variety of effective approaches to this position. What’s your group’s approach? Who do you assign to the safety coordinator position?
Resources related to this blog post:
Webinar: “How to Develop a Positive Safety Culture” by Nick Hardesty
Blog posts on safety culture: Defining a Safety Culture, Tip #1 –Senior Management
Tags: safety coordinator, safety culture, tips