Today’s managers often rise through the ranks of their specialty to assume the role and title of manager without the benefit of formal education and training in management. Similarly, many managers responsible for safety have operational priorities that may compete and conflict with safety.
This struggle to achieve a balance between operations and safety management speaks volumes about organizations. Competition can result in the subordination of safety to operations, sometimes even with a chant of “safety is our number one priority.”
Does this sound familiar? While organizational safety cultures struggle to develop in such a climate, there are ways to build synergy between operations and clinical quality to achieve strategic planning priorities.