Despite widespread recognition of the importance of worker safety, gaining consistent buy-in for safety initiatives remains a significant challenge for many safety and operational leaders.

Even with the best intentions and efforts, safety programs too often become temporary “flavors of the month” or are reduced to routine check-the-box activities. As a result, these initiatives frequently fall short of their intended impact.

Over the last decade, my team and I have been fortunate enough to partner with dozens of utilities to successfully implement and sustain soft-tissue injury prevention programs. As we began to identify the common factors shared by our most successful customers, several key themes emerged. This article is intended to share those themes, with the goal of helping other safety and operational leaders gain true, consistent buy-in for safety initiatives across three key levels of their organizations: senior leadership, frontline management and frontline employees.

The Role of Senior Leadership
Securing the visible, active commitment of senior leadership is essential for driving safety initiatives that have a lasting impact. When leadership prioritizes safety, the rest of the organization is likely to follow suit.

Among our most successful customers, we’ve seen that senior leaders who go beyond approving budgets and signing off on policies truly set the stage for long-term success. These leaders are consistent, vocal advocates for safety. Through their active engagement (e.g., attending safety meetings, participating in training, discussing safety initiatives in regular briefings), they reinforce to the entire organization that safety is not just a formality or even a priority – it’s a core value embedded in how the organization operates.

When senior leaders model the safety behavior they expect from others, they emit a signal of authenticity that begins to create greater trust among frontline management and frontline employees. Actively participating in safety initiatives not only encourages others to do the same, but it also enables leaders to identify opportunities for improvement and suggest appropriate adjustments.

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For more on safety in the utility industry, check out Five Core Capacities for Sustainable Safety Excellence, Are You Making These 5 Heat Related Illness Mistakes?, and Using FR and AR Clothing to Mitigate Cold Stress.