The safety manager for your company is responsible for establishing and
enforcing the safety policies that protect your employees and your business.
She needs to have knowledge and understanding of not only corporate safety, but
also legal guidelines on state and federal levels. In order to find a suitable
safety manager, you need to know what questions to ask. You also need to know
what information categories to consider as you speak to each candidate.
Approach
Questions on how the safety manager would
approach the job are important. It will give you insight about how she would
create and enforce safety policies. How would she evaluate the safety needs for
a situation? What is her process for creating policies? What factors does she
consider when creating policy? What groups of employees and management would
she involve in the creation of safety policy, and what groups should be
involved in enforcement? What does she believe are appropriate consequences for
employees that violate safety policy?
Experience
A safety manager needs to have experience
within your industry, and experience in creating safety policy. Ask her what
were her accomplishments as a safety manager at previous companies. What
experience does she have with hazardous materials? What is the most complicated
safety situation she has experienced and and how did she handle it? What is the
largest number of employees for which she has created and enforced safety
policy? What is her experience with enforcing federal and state safety laws?
Have her describe a situation in which she made a good safety decision, and a
situation in which she made a bad decision. What did she learn from each
situation?
Company-Specific
Questions
A candidate interviewing to be the safety
manager of any company should do research and know something about the company.
Ask the candidate what she would do to improve safety conditions at your
company. What does she feel is the biggest safety concern facing a company in
your industry? How can she help your company improve its safety record?
