For Workplace Safety, The Right To Buck The Hierarchy

Some advice about workplace safety from a U.S. Navy captain and author of a best selling book on management, by way of an HR blog post from labor and employment attorney Evan H. Pontz, partner at Troutman Sanders. The former captain of the naval destroyer USS Benfold advocates some familiar strategies, like creating a culture of safety, but he also has a couple of recommendations with a sharper tooth. Make it clear, he says, that anyone in the workplace can say “stop” to a practice he or she considers unsafe, and let it be known that employees can  bypass immediate supervisors with a safety concern and go to the top if “if they need to.”