How Does a Leader Influence Health and Safety?

For a leader to influence Health and Safety, the leader must first be knowledgeable of some critical aspects of Health and Safety. With that knowledge it then becomes necessary for a leader to recognize that the tools available to them are the Systems and Symbols of the business, coupled with the leader’s own behaviours, which are expressed as words and actions. Following that understanding of the tools available to them, the leader has an accountability to take that critical knowledge and influence the systems and their own behaviours. The leader may not have accountability for the particular system design, but this does not prevent the necessary conversations taking place to maximise the opportunity that the systems reflect that critical knowledge.
I would like to speak to the issues of knowledge, systems, accountability and critical leadership behaviours.
Throughout this paper, the author will relate principles and use underground hard rock mining as an example. It is appreciated that the reader may be from a different industry, but it is the principles which are important.

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