OK so what do you do when the production manager seems to be the sole stick in the mud when trying to get everyone else moving in the right direction safety program wise. For example:

1) makes it a point to torpedo training during the training session. This happens continuously.

2) midnight maint. Schedules work on the back shift to hide from confined space permits/tagouts/hot work permits etc. Basically picks workers who will go along with doing things "the old way"

3) crys about me giving him no respect when I tell him he is disrespecting everyone by not getting on board

4) refuses to discuss things to develope compromise solutions. Its his way or your told you dont know squat and he storms off.

When I discuss with upper management they agree with my assessments or ideas but they just keep assuring me he will change in the long run.

Basically I have to avoid him to keep my own job secure. Being the "better man" does not seem to produce any results. 

Akula,

Tough call. With respect to #1, call him to the mat during the training session. When he makes a snide comment, ask him how he would do it and remain safe and compliant. A second option is to dismiss is comment as irrelevant, "Bob's comment aside, we want you to be safe and here's how management expects it to be done."

With respect to #2, come in on the off shifts. From your post, it's apparent that you know the work is taking place. If you don't know when it is going to occur, ask the managers. They know when it's going to occur, they're paying the overtime. The first time you show up be gentle. Let the workers know you want them to be safe. Help if you can. The second time, if they're not behaving read them the riot act but don't write them up. The third time, write them up.

With respect to #3, not much you can do. The only thought that comes to mind is sit the guy down one on one. Tell him what you need and expect of him as a manager. Then let him give his thoughts and take them to heart. Some of them may be valid.

With respect to #4, you'll need four people in the room. You, the supervisor, his boss, and your boss. Let your boss know the supervisor is uncooperative and obstinant. Have a plan of action going into the meeting. Ask your boss to present the plan to the supervisor's boss. This takes away the supervisor's power because the meeting is actually between the two bosses. You and the supervisor are along for the ride. He can't leave or he'll lose face with his boss. He's at a disadvantage because you're boss is presenting the plan. Finally, if you can, make a minor concession. It will allow him to save face. SunTzu (The Art of War) always allowed his opponents an escape route. That way there was always the option not to fight and that often lessened his opponents resolve.

 MikeCJ

Good info. I can add some more detail. His boss and my boss are one in the same. This particular boss is a great boss. Actually knows the business and is good at analysis of stuff. We get allong. This boss initially told me that he has the same issues with the guy and blames it mostly on an inability to communicate with others. The boss assures me that the manager does have safety on his mind, its just that he has issues. So ok I can go along with that.

Calling him to the mat. I ate that round because he used it as an example of disrespecting him in front of direct reports. Ok is see the point.

Visit on off shifts. Yep I do that about once a week. Thats when I find the crew in a confined space. There is no doubt from anyone that I can spot the failures to comply and I am diplomatic when explaining what the correct procedure is, but this manager has several years of time with these guys and I am the new guy on the block. Individually the guys say they would back me in a war but Im not going there. When I report to other supervisors that I spotted one of their guys doing it wrong they are 95% willing to say yep, that was not right and they will correct the issue. They are on board and I am willing to extend them the time to sort it out through the chain of command. But its like a tug of war with the production workers in the middle.

sit down face to face with him. I am actively avoiding that. My view is that he has the high ground authority wise. He was told that I work "with" him as a team member not "for" him when I reported that he was accusing me of ripping off time from the company ( I work a flexible schedule as does he). Our boss has no issue with my performance. When directed to seek his input on something, I follow up but get vertually no input from him.

I will admit I can push peoples buttons as well as the next guy and can go tit for tat throwing each other under the bus but I am willing to try the "better man" approach for a bit. But personally I dont see that working. Its just a stalemate for now.

It’s never easy dealing with someone who is not on the same page with you. I’ve been around a long time and have had experiences similar to yours. Some have had good endings, some not as good. But in every one of those situations I believe progress was made.

First, establish your own priorities. Then be consistent and persistent in pursuing them. By establishing priorities, I mean you have to identify what is essential for the prevention of injury. There is a lot to a safety program that you can be flexible on, but there are some things that are absolutes. You will need to stand your ground on these. How you do that depends on your situation. When doing this, I may keep some heavy artillery in my back pocket (a document describing their decision and knowledge of the risks involved) but have never had to use it.

Next, try to move away from an adversarial relationship with the individual. That is a no-win situation. Try to know and understand what makes him/her tick. Then work at putting together “safety initiatives” that target those aspects. For example, it could be a new training program that combines safety and production procedures. Or it could be a tracking tool you developed to track a safety metric that can be easily converted to track production metrics.

Another thing to consider is that most managers/supervisors in industry get there due to their technical skills, not their management, leadership, or people skills. I've always been a strong advocate of developing supervisors and managers with management and leadership training. Push for this with your boss at every opprotunity. If those folks don't have the skills they need to lead, it makes your job way more difficult.

One of the things I have also found is that no matter how great my idea is, when it comes to implementation, those most responsible always put their own spin on it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as long as it does not compromise the intent to the point it puts people at risk. In fact, it is a good thing because it gives them some ownership.

A slight variation on this is my “mud slinging” experience. But it is not what you may think. It is just coming up with ideas for addressing a safety issue and throwing them out there. Then finally one of them sticks. Often the way it happens is that one of those ideas makes reappearance as the individual’s. I’m happy to let them take the credit, if it means making my workers safer.

Sometimes it is just a matter of letting the person think about it. I have often found that a strong willed person needs to let things stew a while before they will accept them. It takes patience to allow this to happen and the willingness for someone else to get the credit. Even in these situations, it will often resurface as “their” initiative.

Most of all, you have to feel good about any progress. Baby steps are better than no steps. My two words for success remain--consistent and persistent. Add to that patience. A very think skin doesn’t hurt either.

That's a tough situation to be in. Thankfully my manager supports everything I do, no questions asked. I do work with a lot of old timers who insist on doing it the way they have been for the last 25 years because they never got hurt. So I spent the following weeks showing them just how lucky they are they never got hurt. Give them numbers to chew on. Adapt, persevere, overcome. Don't give up, your in charge of keeping your workers safe. Have your production manager write up a form letter so when someone dies he can give it the victim's family.

mikecj:

SunTzu (The Art of War) always allowed his opponents an escape route. That way there was always the option not to fight and that often lessened his opponents resolve.

Off topic, but it's such a great piece of literature, no?  After reading it two or three times, I learned "War" is a general term for "Things in Life".  Business is a war nobody really sees as war... it's just something people wake up to do.

-Justin

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Eat. Skate. Sleep. Repeat.