By S. S. Suarez
Competency is the ability to do a job properly. To a safety officer, it takes not only skills and experience but it is also a combination of emotional intelligence and maturity. It behooves the safety officer to learn not only the basic and advanced skills but also must develop a moral ascendancy over his peers and co-workers. He should lead by example for him to be an effective safety practitioner.
Upgrading his skills should be a constant event in his professional life. It does not end in attending trainings. Instead, he must pass on his knowledge to fulfill his duties. Education is useless if it is not used properly. Talents can go to waste if they are not shared. Our knowledge should be used to advance the development of our fellow man.
As pointers to safety officer, I have listed 10 competencies which I’m sharing through this blog. Here’s the continuation of the 2-part series:
Ability to investigate - Investigating accidents is a four step process. The process starts with controlling the scene, gathering data, analyzing the data and writing the report. The primary purpose of investigation is to trace the root cause of the accident. Of the four steps, gathering data is the hardest skill to develop. This process includes interviewing the victims and witnesses. Interviewing accident victims requires a different set of skills. First of all, compassion and respect for the victims should be the primary consideration. Suffering from trauma brought by the accident, the victims are reluctant to grant interviews. Thus the safety officer must be sensitive to the victim’s condition and must not force the situation. Apart from listening skills, he must also master how to ask the right questions at the right time. The interview process must start with open-ended questions to allow the victims and witnesses share information freely. He can shift to close-ended questions after gathering already the vital information from the victims and witnesses.
Ability to document manuals - Safety officers will be tasked to develop safety manuals. Whether or not he likes it, he should also possess proficient writing skills. However having a good command of the English language is not enough. Documenting manuals also requires understanding of the organization’s processes and procedures. Process mapping should be part of his competency table as well. He would be asked to draw flowcharts as procedures and work instructions. Not only that, he will also design forms such as work permits, incident investigation reports and other forms of inspection checklists.
Risk Assessment skills - I always tell my seminar participants never to copy safety programs. Safety programs should be risk-based that are inherent to the organization. Risk assessment is the heart of any safety management system. It is the soul of every safety program. Without risk assessment, the safety officer is like a blind man leading the blind. It is every important that he knows how to evaluate risks. As we all know, not all risks are harmful. Risks can be categorized as high, moderate and low depending on the results of the assessment. Some risks are tolerable, others are unacceptable. Risk assessment is a tool to guide management in prioritizing risks. Such skill will make life easier for the safety officer because he will be able to determine which risks need immediate corrective actions. Following the Pareto rule, risk assessment results now become the basis for the company’s safety program.
Ability to integrate - Gone are the days when safety officers are just knowledgeable in safety. Some organizations now appoint Safety Officers as management representative as part of the requirement of the ISO standard. Many companies nowadays are undergoing IMS certification. IMS refers to integrated management system which is certification to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. ISO 9001 is for quality management, ISO 14001 is for environmental management system and OHSAS 18001 for safety management system. To be IMS certified, the company must be able to integrate quality, environmental and safety management systems. And the safety officer as management representative should know how to integrate the three management systems in the form of system manuals, procedures that will eliminate overlapping tasks. It’s a tall order but it can be done.
Driving skills - Why did I include this skill? It is because the safety officer is always mobile and on-the-go. Most often, he moves around a lot to inspect sites as most companies now provide service vehicle for the safety officer. Whenever there are emergency situations, he should be the first person on-site to evaluate the scene of the incident and assist the incident commander in facilitating emergency response. Hence driving skills should come in handy for any safety officer. What an irony if the safety officer who lectures defensive driving doesn’t know how to drive.
