10 Reasons safety people coach

Hello all,

I've been reflecting on why it is I've seen a significant increase in the number of safety practitioners who are looking to improve their coaching skills. I'm sure there are other reasons but this is what occurs to me.

1. Knowledge alone is not enough

The technical knowledge learned through NEBOSH and other courses forms the technical under-pinning of all good safety practitioners, informing everything they do and say. But that alone is not enough. The very best practitioners realise the importance of combining this technical understanding with the highly-developed communication skills of a coach.

2. Training for tomorrow, today

Many believe that the safety profession has long been fixated with technical knowledge at the expense of other vitally important attributes. Communication skills haven’t been promoted as strongly as technical competence and consequently knowledge-based courses have dominated the training landscape. The professional body wants to address this and is soon to reveal its competency framework for safety practitioners which is certain to promote a more balanced approach to professional development.

3. Heads of Safety ‘get it’

Heads of Safety experience the difference communication skills make to their team every day. Their team may have different backgrounds and therefore different areas of expertise but technically, you can’t get a cigarette paper between them. What distinguishes the best of them however isn’t their technical capabilities at all, it’s their ability to develop productive relationships and deliver a service to their duty-holders. Coaches exist to be supportive and helpful.

4. Collaboration is king

Whoever said that safety practitioners are the best people to solve safety problems? Practitioners know about the law and the standards that need to be achieved and they have experience of how others have solved problems but ultimately, the best solution for a given situation is that which works best for the duty-holder and finding that solution is a collaborative effort. Coaches exist to be collaborative.

5. A natural bedfellow for behavioural safety

A reason many behavioural safety implementations go wrong is that the ‘observations’ are handled poorly. What should be a mature discussion to reinforce safe behaviour and discover the reasons for unsafe behaviour, becomes a gotchya moment, a diatribe about repeat offences and a failure to learn lessons. It’s obvious – investing in coaching skills paves the way for more positive engagements.

6. It’s a great leveller

One thing I absolutely love about my Coaching for safety classes is that delegates come from all backgrounds and sectors and rookies, new to the profession, sit alongside seasoned safety professionals. And there is no predicting whose innate communication skills will be strongest or who will develop coaching skills more easily.

7. No role-play

Coaching doesn’t work with role-play – it has to matter. That’s why I designed Coaching for safety to be a highly-participative course based on a number of practical coaching skills sessions all involving real-life issues and problems the delegates bring themselves – there is absolutely no role-play.

8. You’re in safe hands

Until recently, the enlightened few who wanted to improve their communication skills had to turn to non-safety professionals unfamiliar with the challenges of a safety role for their instruction. The scope of the safety role is vast and practitioners change hats several times a day. For me it’s important that students of coaching who are safety practitioners learn from someone who understands the role and who can help them integrate these skills, learned in a classroom, into their daily lives.

9. It’s fascinating

Actively listening, learning about the importance of gestures, expressions and metaphors and becoming aware of changes in body language and tone is a highly engaging area. Learning to communicate at this level is thoroughly fascinating and damn good fun!

10. The word is …

The testimonials speak for themselves. Contact us today to find out what people are saying.

Michael Emery is owner and director of Securus Health & Safety Limited, a Lancashire-based consultancy. He’s managed health and safety for several leading organisations – household names at home and abroad – and is a qualified Executive Coach accredited with the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC).

Call Michael today on 0792 191 4099 or visit us on www.securushealthandsafety.co.uk