Leading Safety by Example: Walking the Walk Saves Lives

One of the questions on the application for EHS Today’s America’s Safest Companies asks about management engagement in safety. Companies with extraordinary safety programs have leaders that are engaged in safety, who recognize the importance of EHS performance to the bottom line and support EHS efforts as part of their goal to be a world-class operation.

Just as at any work site, leadership is critical to establishing safety on the construction job site. Workers who believe that both corporate leaders and the field supervisors take occupational safety seriously are more likely to take the time and effort to work safely.

We know that leadership can take many forms. Which are most important when engaging employees?

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About the Author: DrStefanieKJohnson

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Management at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. from Rice University and is particularly interested in the effects of unconscious biases in the evaluation of women and minorities, with the goal of finding ways to mitigate those biases. Dr. Johnson brings bias to light with an engaging and humorous approach to advanced scientific research, which has earned her numerous accolades and invitations to present her work at meetings around the world, including the White House for a 2016 summit on diversity in corporate America on National Equal Pay Day, and the 2016 Harvard Negotiation and Leadership Conference. She has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters in outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Journal of Applied Psychology and The Academy of Management Journal. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership-development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. In recognition of her unique research, Dr. Johnson has been awarded nearly three million dollars in external funding to study leadership and create leadership development programs aimed at increasing safety. Media outlets featuring her work include: The Economist, Newsweek, Time, and CNN. Stefanie lives in the Boulder Bubble in Colorado with her Biology Professor husband, two young kiddos, and two old kitties.