Linking Safety Performance to Organizational Strategy

As a safety professional, we are technical experts in our organizations. As leaders, we need to make the

move to becoming a strategic partner in the organization. This requires speaking the same language as the

senior leaders, aligning metrics and performance measures with the organization's business goals, and

moving safety away from the traditional focus on compliance and activities.

"Organizations don't execute unless the right people, individually and collectively, focus on the right

details at the right time," states Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan in Execution: The Discipline of Getting

Things Done.

In order to be effective, safety professionals must discover their relevance and value proposition in the

organization. "Getting a seat at the table" requires a unique set of skills, knowledge, business acumen

and competencies to get the job done; and compels the health and safety professional to adopt a mindset

of performance management. There are specific skills and tools that safety professionals can use to

align their safety and health strategy with the organization's goals to make the move from technical

expert to strategic partner.