Discussion on how to be a good safety officer

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How to be a good safety officer: According to modern safety management concepts, safe production management is a long-term and complex systematic effort that involves all employees. In this sense, everyone around us is a safety officer. **Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, once said he was China’s number one safety officer. 　　Of course, by this I mean full-time security administrators. 　　So, if one wants to work as a safety officer, what should they do? How to fulfill the responsibilities of a safety officer? What to do? As a security professional, let me share my views. 　　First, one should understand the term “responsibility” and be aware of what responsibilities a security administrator must have; in other words, a sense of responsibility must be established first. Without responsibility, there is no motivation to work, nor any direction for it. As a security manager, one must have a high degree of responsibility towards the company and its employees. It is essential to understand that employees place their physical and mental health as well as their safety in our hands; the quality of our work has a direct impact on the happiness of their families, the stability of society, and the success or failure of the company. In other words, the responsibilities are immense, as heavy as Mount Tai. 　　Second, the difficulty of the work should be recognized. Work related to safe production is a highly complex systematic task, as well as a long-term and arduous endeavor. At the same time, we must fully realize that by assigning such an important task to us, the leadership is showing trust in us and recognizing our value; we should therefore step up to take on these challenges. Therefore, we must also strengthen our learning of knowledge regarding safety laws and regulations, safety management, and safety technologies. Only in this way can our work have a basis and standards, so that we can understand where the difficulties lie and how to overcome them. 　　Third, with the above understanding and the necessary mental and psychological preparation, I believe it is necessary to set practical, tangible work goals. I develop my annual, quarterly, and even monthly work plans based on this goal. In this way, our work has a clear direction, and there is also a timeline for achieving the goals. 　　Fourth, as a security administrator, one should have a set of correct management ideas and concepts. In my opinion, behavior is merely the support or manifestation of thoughts and ideas. 　　In today’s security management, the first step is to address the issue of employees’ safety awareness. The improvement of human consciousness is a gradual process that cannot be achieved in just one day. Raising employees’ awareness of production safety is the foundation of safe production, the basis for establishing a strong safety culture, and it represents the approach that enables the least investment while achieving the best results in terms of safety. This is done in several steps. First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the promotion and education of safety laws and regulations, so that employees understand that violating safety rules and procedures as well as safety operation guidelines can constitute illegal acts ； Secondly, as employees’ legal awareness improves, there is an urgent need for safety knowledge. At this point, we should meet their needs by posting safety posters and holding lectures to teach them practical safety tips that are relevant to real life. Since these tips are related to everyday situations, they are easier to accept and more effective ； Secondly, by raising employees’ awareness of self-protection – since everyone has an instinct to survive – safety, in essence, means ensuring that no employee gets hurt. All employees should be informed that the purpose of safety efforts is to protect the physical and mental health of every employee. Since it concerns their own interests, employees are more likely to understand and accept it, which in turn helps to raise their safety awareness ； Finally, well-known production safety accident cases from everyday life are used as teaching materials. Raising safety awareness sees very clear educational benefits from accident cases, as they are real, tangible lessons. Using production safety accidents that have a significant impact on society or occur in our immediate surroundings as examples, it is necessary to analyze the causes and processes of such accidents. By considering one’s own actual circumstances, one can determine how to prevent such incidents and draw lessons from them. It is necessary to clearly determine liability for accidents in accordance with laws and regulations, and to fully explain the harms caused by work safety accidents. It is essential to shock employees’ minds, so that they truly understand that the consequences of work safety accidents are lifelong, represent a tragedy for families, and constitute the greatest threat to social stability. 　　Fifth, the enforcement of rules and regulations must be strict yet measured, with clear rewards and punishments. I remember at the beginning of 2003, when I was in Guiyang attending training for full-time safety managers, a story told by one of the instructors in class deeply moved me. He said that for our world-famous Three Gorges Project, the quality and progress of construction are both of world-class standard; however, safety management is not up to par and does not match such high standards of construction, which is why experts in safety management from Japan were brought in. After reviewing all the safety regulations, the expert went to the construction site. In conclusion, the systems are comprehensive and well-regulated, but they are not properly implemented; on-site workers can’t even wear safety helmets properly, so there’s no talk of effective safety management. This made the teacher blush when he said he was there at the time. How could we not blush? Safety regulations and rules are detailed versions of safety laws and regulations as well as safety technical standards; they represent the basic guidelines for ensuring safety and serve as powerful tools in our daily safety management. If they are not implemented strictly or at all, then they have no value or meaning, and safety management becomes nothing but empty words. 　　However, there is also an issue of degree in execution, which depends entirely on the wisdom of the on-site safety manager. As mentioned earlier, the improvement of human consciousness is a gradual process that cannot be achieved in just one day. Old employees are different from new employees, college students are different from junior high school students, and those with experience are different from those without it. Different groups require different management approaches; it’s not possible to apply a one-size-fits-all solution. There must also be clear rewards and punishments. Both rewards and punishments are means aimed at using incentives and penalties to enhance employees’ awareness of production safety, thereby achieving the goal of safety management: preventing production safety accidents. The awards are given to those employees who actively support efforts to ensure production safety and show improvement in their safety awareness; even the slightest improvement deserves recognition and encouragement ； Punishments are meant for those who persist in breaking rules despite repeated warnings and who deliberately violate regulations; the punishment must be severe enough to cause them real pain, so as to achieve the goal of deterring future offenses and helping to correct such behavior. Give more rewards and fewer punishments. 　　Sixth, as a safety officer, it is necessary to frequently go to the construction sites in person to identify the main sources of danger. By conducting analyses, one can determine the roots of unsafe behaviors and unsafe conditions among workers, and then propose corresponding countermeasures. For issues that cannot be resolved, they should be reported to supervisors and higher-level departments. In cases where there is a risk to personal safety, the workers involved must be removed from the area immediately, to ensure that no production safety accidents, especially those resulting in injuries or deaths, occur. It is also important to act as a safety advisor to the supervisors. 　　Seventh, as a safety officer, one must go among the employees, blend in with them, and unite and encourage them to participate in safety efforts. It is important to understand one’s role properly, breaking free from the constraints imposed by the notion of \"management\"; one should not casually abandon the responsibilities associated with management and transform into a \"boss\". In my view, safety management refers to safety supervision, coordination, guidance, assistance, and services. 　　Eighth, it is necessary to secure the support of leaders at all levels as well as Party, trade union, and youth organization bodies. By making full use of the authority of these leaders and the strengths of these organizations, organizational work can be integrated effectively with safety production. Once organizational work has a clear focus and substantive content, safety production efforts can also improve. 　　I believe that through all these efforts, employees’ safety knowledge and awareness will certainly improve; they will surely be willing to participate actively in safe production activities, and every employee will become a competent safety officer. In this way, all our security measures are ensured, our work can be considered effective, our company can meet the requirements of modern safety management, reach a new level of performance, and remain unbeatable in the fierce market competition. Article source: