1. Business Challenge
The Engine Room was engaged by a large mining company, which, despite existing safety tools and processes, experienced an increase in recordable incidents, taking the Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR) from 1.8 up to 4.6.
A “Rapid Safety Diagnostic” was conducted, and it was discovered that while many incidents were of lower severity, the underlying root causes were also safety precursors for potentially more serious safety issues. That is because many issues stemmed from insufficient supervision and/or the normalization of deviance, where employees at multiple levels of the org chart gradually accept unsafe practices as standard behavior.
The safety diagnostic also discovered that the organization does have good quality safety tools and procedures; however, there are opportunities to improve the quality of how these safety tools—such as pre-start checklists, incident reporting systems, safety observations, and daily line-ups—are utilized. By focusing safety coaching on front-line supervisors and managers, the Engine Room addressed these issues at the operational leadership level, effectively integrating safety tools into daily operations.
The result is that this case study outlines the necessity and benefits of implementing a safety coaching program specifically targeting front-line supervisors and managers to ensure that safety tools and practices are utilized with sufficient integrity and rigor to ensure the appropriate safety outcomes.
2. Actions Taken and Tools Used
Following the 2-week “Rapid Safety Diagnostic,” an implementation plan was developed in partnership with the client. The coaching was spread over seven months, with approximately 10 days per month of on-site coaching and time between coaching periods to allow supervisors and managers to apply coached concepts in their daily routine. Key elements of the implementation plan included:
| Tailored Safety Training Program: A tailored safety training program for supervisors and managers focusing on safety leadership, safety principles, risk assessments, and effective communication of safety protocols was developed. This training was delivered 1:1 on a “just-in-time” basis with each coachee. |
| Work Observations: A systematic approach to work observations was implemented where the Engine Room coach observed supervisors and managers in action to identify their coaching styles and areas for improvement in promoting safety and effectively using existing safety tools. |
| One-on-One Coaching: Personalized coaching sessions were conducted to address specific challenges supervisors and managers faced in their roles regarding safety management and safety tool utilization. |
| Continuous Feedback Loop: Increasing participation of the Crews and targeting better use of the company’s 5-Point Card tool in the daily “Line-up Meetings” to support improved front-line engagement and increase the quantity and quality of near-miss reporting. |
3. Business Results
The implementation of the safety training and coaching program targeting front-line supervisors and managers has resulted in several sustainable changes. By prioritizing safety through effective leadership, addressing the normalization of deviance, and enhancing the quality of tool utilization, the program created a proactive safety culture that benefits both employees and the organization as a whole. Specific observable improvements included:
| Changing Unsafe Habits: Supervisors and managers now feel equipped with the skills and demonstrate confidence in their ability to identify and correct unsafe behaviors within their teams through structured observation and intervention. |
| Improve Utilization of Safety Tools: Reviews of the quality and consistency with which existing safety tools are being employed shows a noticeable change for the better. That has positioned leadership to ensure they are used effectively to promote safety on a sustainable basis. |
| Combat Normalization of Deviance: There was a striking improvement in the awareness among leaders about the dangers of allowing unsafe practices to become normalized and a step change in leadership’s skills to actively prevent it. |
| Enhance Leadership Skills: Supervisors’ and managers’ understanding of their role in promoting safety and accountability improved dramatically across the organization. |
