Be a safety leader

Pulp & Paper, Aug 2005 by Hanson, Richard

AS WE'VE WORKED to improve safety performance at Weyerhaeuser, we've discovered through experience and benchmarking that there are many and varied approaches, activities, programs and procedures that can be used to improve safety. But without outstanding leadership, even the best of programs will not succeed.

As leaders, we must show employees that we believe in safety through our behavior, not just our words. Leaders must create a culture where everyone is absolutely clear about safety expectations, and the consequences for not meeting them.

I want to acknowledge, however, that Weyerhaeuser isn't perfect. We are still on our own safety journey. We haven't reached our goal of a recordable incident rate of less than one, on the way to zero. But we have reduced our recordable incident rate from 8.2 in 1993 to 1.82 as of the end of May.

We've made that progress because we have leaders who make safety the priority. At the top level, this leadership comes from a "safety champion" on our Senior Management Team - currently Jim Keller, our senior vice president for Containerboard packaging and recycling. Jim's responsibility to the senior team is to personify safety, and to continue to focus everyone's attention on safety - to become our unrelenting, internal evangelist for safely. Because this role is so critical, we rotate it regularly among our leaders. BillCorbin, senior vice president of industrial wood products and international business, and I have both held this role.

Setting a high standard

As our first safety champion, Bill immediately set the bar high. Safety was always top of mind for Bill, and he has keen powers of observation both to identify potential risks and to recommend ways for people to operate more safely. With every site visit, Bill lived the belief that safety is our core value.

Our latest milestone is an initiative we have launched called "Courage to Intervene." It asks people to intervene, to speak up, to take action when they see a fellow worker or colleague or friend doing something that is unsafe. Interventions are not easy; they do take courage.

But leaders are not the only ones who need to have the Courage to Intervene. We also celebrate the everyday interventions among employees: one employee stopping another employee from taking a short cut, from not doing proper lock out/tag out, or recognizing an employee taking the time to fix a hazard instead of working around it.

At Weyerhaeuser, having a common safety culture that we can export with pride around the globe is an important part of our commitment to sustainable social development.

It's no surprise to me that our safest operations are also our most productive. For example, our pulp, paper and container-board operations are safer than they were in 2001. At the same time, we've increased annual production on a per employee basis by 25%.

But no single leader can do everything that is needed. We all share accountability. This year, to show their passion for safety, members of our Senior Management Team will personally visit 37 sites that need improvement in safety. This is in addition to the regular visits they already make. That is 37 additional opportunities for senior leaders to talk with employees, to find out what their problems are, to find out what is needed to improve safety and show employees that we care enough to get involved.

I've talked about leadership at the higher levels, but it can also have equally important impact at the mill and crew level. We've seen many cases where a single leader in management or from the hourly team, staff or union can help us achieve our safety goals. Individuals who care enough to make a difference and are willing to lead where and when others are not. Leaders who are willing to intervene, and in some cases be the proverbial "pain in the butt," until they succeed.

Where do we go from here?

First, develop a personal, uncompromising commitment to safety. Lead by example. Lead by embracing safety. Lead by demanding safety. When you lead, people will follow.

My second challenge is more daunting. I want us to create an injury-free work environment in our industry. At Weyerhaeuser, our goal for the past five years has been a recordable incident rate of less than one with a belief in zero. Any other goal is unacceptable.

We must believe that so long as there is a single injury, our mission is not done. Improving safety is not easy. Creating injury-free workplaces may seem impossible. But that is the right goal for us. We choose to do it not because it is easy, but because it is hard, and moreover because is unquestionably the right thing to do.

RICHARD HANSON is COO of Weyerhaeuser. This column was excerpted from Mr. Hanson's acceptance speech for the Executive Eagle Award from the Pulp & Paper Safety Assn., June 15, St. Petersburg, Fla.