Personal liability

Members of a Board and CEO’s are personally liable for workplace safety, the extent differs from state to state, but remains a serious concern for all directors. Their personal involvement in implementing safety programs provides them with greater degree of protection from litigation and sanction in the event of an incident.

The Pledge initiative is an ideal opportunity for top level management to demonstrate their personal commitment to safety in the work place.  This level of involvement also sends a positive and uniting message to all staff that safety is everyone’s concern.

The program is served best when it is launched by the CEO and not the Safety Officer - it needs top level demonstration of its importance in order to be most effective.  The Board should get involved in showing its commitment and recommit each year.  Board induction for new Directors should also include this - and be visible to the workers that the new Director has made a personal commitment to them.

“Sign up for safety day” is also a great opportunity to breakdown the barriers between all levels of management. It is a day where all are equal in their commitment to each other, it serves as an ideal team building exercise and fosters unity between various levels of management.

Corporate risk mitigation

The use of a program such as this can also be a very valuable tool for a company that may be being investigated for a workplace accident - a firm that has such a program with demonstrable top level support even if found culpable in an injury, will attract far less penalties if it can demonstrate its commitment and actions to protect its workforce than one that just pushes out the usual, mundane safety guff in policies and procedures.