Way back in my day as a site safety manager, one day I had a knock-down-drag-out with the facility maintenance manager regarding overdue piping inspections. It was not long before my Plant Manager stopped by for a chat. Apparently, the maintenance manager was not too happy having the lowly safety manager expect him to carry out the MI inspections per the plan and passed on his displeasure to the PM. So the discussion with the PM went something like this:
PM: Did you just have an argument with the MM?
Me: Yes sir
PM: Why would you do that
Me: He is not doing the MI inspections as planned
PM: And this caused you to feel the need to get into a shouting match with him? Do you think he will change his behavior after your little dust-up?
Then the PM sat down so I knew I was in for a lesson and it is one of the most important lessons I learned about managing a safety process.
He started (and I am paraphrasing)…
Bryan, you are my crew chief in this race to world-class safety. We will never win a 500-mile race without a strong crew chief. We may set “lap speed” records and “laps led” records but we will never cross the finish line without a strong crew chief. Your role is to make adjustments to the race car, change the tires, fuel it up, in order to meet my race plans. Do you understand? I guess the look on my face was a no.
So he continued.
I asked you to develop a Mechanical Integrity Program for the facility – which you did. I asked you to develop a training program and to identify those who needed to be trained in the MI program – which you did. We implemented the program and all the Chem-Op Unit leaders signed off on the plan. They work for me – not you. When your metrics tell me that they are not executing the plan, that falls on my shoulders – NOT YOURS. I just need a solid safety plan from you, your help with implementing and making adjustments to the plan as need. When my team does not meet this plan, your metrics will inform me of this and I will take the necessary action to correct the deficiency.
Again – be the very best crew chief you can be and you will be wildly successful in this profession.