How training supervisors in skills for self-mastery helped improve mine’s safety record and won

them awards

The Client and challenge

A nine year old platinum mine needed to improve the safety record in particular to address fatalities and accidents due to dangerous triplet ground formation. The safety obstacles remained even when the company was running a safety representative program, a safety training intervention as well as shift boss program.

Research pointed to a variety of reasons why safety was failing, such as

Roles were not always clear

Employee did not understand specific steps to be taken in Early Morning Safety Meetings

There was general lack of communication (up/down/parallel)

Participative management was lacking

Specific perceptions in terms of interpersonal relationship were hindering the safety processes

Staff lacked the hard skills specifically in dealing with geological features (to identify accurately when there was a safety hazard)

Cognitive skills needed more attention

There was lack of leadership

Supervisor intervention – Drive behavioral change through self-mastery

Supervisor training was identified as a core component in a refreshed and integrated safety intervention.

The training team develop a practical and highly structured safety leadership course for supervisors,

which is described as in the Safety Leadership Pyramid below.

The pyramid model was designed to

Create networks of supervisors who are directly oversee safety on the ground

Build a core of skills in safety leadership (including the right mindset and role models)

Empower supervisors in building strong teams which reduced pressure on managers and

executives.

Developing a sustainable and consistent culture of safety, integrity and risk management.

The course was practical and scheduled with work cycles in mind. Course activities were designed in

such a way that it became part of supervisor work outcomes.

The leadership pyramid model is based on a global best practice for leadership development, and has

been applied in a variety of gold and platinum mines.

Self-Mastery

Individual value systems were aligned with that of the mine to ensure that safety of self and others

become important. These included Integrity, Safety, Care, Respect and Commitment.

The emphasis of the self-mastery course was to teach supervisors how to take ownership of themselves

and to learn the tools to increase their own personal effectiveness. They were taught time management,

how to increase their personal locus of control, personal health and vitality, mental alertness and cultivate

a pro-active attitude towards personal safety.

Self-mastery cultivates higher levels of personal understanding which frequently results in improving how

individuals think about the needs of others. The course placed an emphasis on being principle- and

value-centric in their roles are supervisors and therefore become role models for safety.

Team-Mastery

The team-mastery skills were designed at addressing the soft skills challenges that prevented effective

team activities around safety. The modules covered interpersonal skills with specific focus on

communications tools and methods. Learning to be more caring towards other team members was

important, as well as learning how to encourage others to do well. During the course the supervisors

learnt how to cultivate a positive and safety oriented team spirit.

Tools for working relationships, in particular authentic communication was taught. Critical skills in conflict

management and team motivation were provided to assist supervisors in becoming more effective with

their teams in particular when they had to reinforce safety procedures.

Business-Mastery

In this module supervisors developed “hard” skills including Early Morning Examination checklists,

coaching skills, communication content, work cycles and other safety competencies. They also learnt

more about how to effectively read the Strata and geological structures. Being competent in their roles

would promote credibility with the people they supervised, therefore improving their status in the teams.

This credibility is critical to build trust in the role of supervisors in the safety environment.

The outcome: dramatic improvement in safety records

Investing in an integrated solution which included personal mastery and leadership training for

supervisors, resulted in the mine receiving a variety of safety awards, including for safety improvement. It

managed nearly 6 million fatality free shifts, and was fatality free for three and a half years.

Conclusion and lesson learnt

The return on investment in leadership programs for supervisors extend beyond the improved safety

records. It also creates a solid foundation for the next generation of managers to be effective leaders and

take ownership of their careers and their contribution in the organization. An organization with a strong

leadership culture will outperform competitors, and build a reputation for an attractive employee value

proposition thereby drawing talented workers. It will also improve it’s ability to retain scarce skills.

About MaRi Eagar

MaRi Eagar is a Chartered Accountant with a Masters degree in Personal and Professional Leadership

(cum laude). An experienced leadership development practitioner and consultant, she advises

organizations in developing practical and activity-based leadership development to accelerate the

achievement of business goals. She is also a speaker on variety of topics, such as personal mastery and

professional leadership.

(Article originally published in eCompliance – under Safety Updates)