Get to know Dr. David Provan:

Profile linkedin.com/in/david-provan-forgeworks      Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.forgeworks.com/                        Get his book: A Field Guide to Safety Professional Practice

Podcast Co-host: The Safety of Work                            Podcast Co-host: Punk Rock Safety

Dave Provan shares powerful insights on bridging the massive gap between management and the frontline, emphasizing that true safety is found in operations, not paperwork.

Here are the key lessons we learn from his approach:

Compressing the Organization & Genuine Curiosity

Provan emphasizes the critical need to "compress the organization" by ensuring leaders are deeply connected to the reality of frontline work. To do this effectively, leaders must set aside their assumptions and tap into genuine humility and curiosity. He suggests leaders consider an Undercover Boss analogy—asking themselves how surprised they would be if they actually had to work on their own frontline.

Face-to-Work vs. Face-to-Screen Time

A major barrier to this connection is how leaders spend their time. Provan breaks a supervisor's day into three categories: face-to-screen, face-to-face (meetings), and face-to-work. He points out the alarming reality that many supervisors spend up to 75% of their day "face-to-screen" and only 2% to 5% (roughly 8 to 10 minutes a day) physically at the work front observing the jobs they are responsible for. He strongly echoes the sentiment that a true "open door policy" means the manager's door is open because they are actively out of their office.

Safety is a Verb, Not a Noun (Paperwork vs. Practice)

Many industries still mistakenly believe that safety is defined by the forms filled out and the procedures followed. Provan illustrates this with a story about a pool construction crew who worked with incredible communication, pauses, and problem-solving, but felt they weren't "doing safety" simply because they lacked formal paperwork. Provan reminds us that safety is about verbs, not nouns—it is about having the capability, tools, time, and support to actually do the work well.

Stop Wasting Time on Terminology

Organizations often waste massive amounts of "organizational airspace" debating trivial terminology—such as spending half a day arguing whether a program should be called "Stop Work," "Pause Work," or "Timeout for Safety". Provan argues that splitting hairs over language avoids the actual hard work. Instead, leaders should focus purely on the outcome: making it easy and culturally acceptable for workers to reach out for help without feeling like they are bothering a busy supervisor.

The Hypocrisy of Accountability

Provan highlights a stark double standard in how companies view accountability. When he proposed creating a set of "life-saving leadership rules" for management—where leaders could be formally sanctioned or fired for failing to support the frontline—the organization thought the idea was entirely ridiculous. Yet, they found the exact same punitive concept perfectly acceptable when applied to the workers.

Reframing the Question: "Better" instead of "Safer"

Finally, Provan shares a brilliant tactic for getting better feedback from the frontline. He advises against asking workers, "How can we make this job safer?" because workers often conflate "safer" with restrictive checklists, more training, or extra procedures. Instead, leaders should simply ask, "How could we make this work better?". This immediately prompts workers to discuss improvements in quality, speed, tools, and resources—all of which inherently fix safety hazards along the way.

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