Women and safety leadership: ‘A cultural shift’

Nicole Thunich once arrived at a worksite dressed in business attire before getting her bearings and unpacking her work gear.

The vice president of safety for a waste management company at the time soon was outfitted with proper personal protective equipment and work clothing – a wardrobe change that made an impression on the predominantly male crew.

“When I left there, I talked with the operations manager,” Thunich recalled. “He said, ‘You know, it’s interesting. The guys, when they saw you drive in, just thought, ‘Oh, what’s this woman going to tell us?’ And then when I got on the floor of the recycling facility in my appropriate attire to be in operations and be on the floor of this facility, they were very impressed, right, by my knowledge and my insight and my directives.”

To Thunich, now senior vice president of safety and quality for Centuri Group Inc., a Phoenix-based utility infrastructure services company, this example of unconscious bias – or social stereotyping – illustrates an over-riding obstacle women in safety leadership roles continue to encounter.

“People have these preconceived ideas, still, of women and how operationally savvy they are in these industries,” she said.

Demographic disparity

How can female safety professionals begin to bridge the divide? Multiple women in safety leadership positions who spoke with Safety+Health suggested that as the number of women in environmental, health and safety professions increases, so too will opportunities for career advancement.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows women comprised a notably low ratio of workers in safety-specific industries such as construction (10.3%); mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (15.8%); transportation and utilities (24.1%); and manufacturing (29.4%). Additionally, women typically make up only about 25% of respondents to S+H’s annual Job Outlook and salary surveys of safety pros.

“Women are definitely underrepresented in leadership, particularly in the EHS field,” said Kelly Bernish, head of global EHS at Lyft. “We fall, unfortunately, into that category of many industries where women are underrepresented, and I think the irony of it is that women bring so much to the table in terms of leadership characteristics that are desired, including collaboration and relationship building, which is so crucial to leaders, but also, in my opinion, is the secret to success of a robust culture of safety.”

Drawing from data and anecdotal observation, Bernish added: “We’re seeing a lot of women getting degrees in safety and related fields, seeing a lot of entry-level women in the field, but where we still have not seen significant progress is them getting into positions of leadership.”

Pam Walaski, senior program director for Specialty Technical Consultants Inc., feels that recently reported racial- and gender-charged incidents and developments around the country have prompted more employers to reflect on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

As the discourse shifts and employer initiatives intended to enhance DE&I in industries and workplaces advance, Walaski believes more chances for women to fill leadership roles should follow.

“If nothing else, I think that getting people to really begin to think about that and to appreciate that can really go a long way to identifying barriers, removing barriers, identifying unconscious bias and creating opportunities,” she said.

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They can relate

Experts say cultivating and maintaining relationships is key for the successful advancement of female safety pros, whether for networking, finding mentors or simply remaining productive leaders in the field.

The National Safety Council Women’s Division offers an avenue to that end, providing various educational, training and mentoring opportunities. NSC President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin touts the Women’s Division as “a place for collaboration and understanding some of the challenges. Whether it’s ensuring your voice is heard or bringing forward some of the safety issues that are unique to women, networking opportunities like the Division are essential.”

Rosa Carrillo, who operates a safety leadership consulting practice in Long Beach, CA, writes in her book, “The Relationship Factor in Safety Leadership: Achieving Success Through Employee Engagement,” that strong relationships founded on trust and inclusivity are the true driving forces behind an organization’s safety outcomes. Adjusting procedures and protocol will accomplish only so much.

Carrillo contends that effective communication exists only in relationships with established trust – an attribute that assumes added significance when workers’ lives are at stake.

“You can track all the incident investigations to the beginning of time,” she said, “and the failure of communication is always in that report.”

Kathy Freeman, director of safety at HEI Civil, a Castle Rock, CO-based general contractor, credits a personal approach to safety for fostering healthy working relationships and helping open doors during her career. It starts from the time she meets a new worker on a jobsite.

“People don’t like change overnight, and they certainly don’t like to be told what they’re doing wrong,” Freeman said. “I mean, obviously, if I see imminent danger, I’m going to stop it, but any time we acquire a company or any time we get a new employee, it’s important to me to get to know them.

“‘Do you have kids? Do you have a family?’ And add that personal aspect. And I think because I go into the mindset of, ‘I want to get to know this employee so that they know me and it’s a mutual respect,’ versus me just showing up on a job and going, ‘OK, this is wrong,’ you know, you add the human element to safety.”

Shawne Walthall, general supervisor in the electric dispatch group of Detroit-based DTE Energy, advocates assessing your contributions to working relationships on an ongoing basis. “I do one-on-ones with my peers – at my level, under my level and above my level – and ask for feedback,” she said.

Often, descriptors for women and how they work within organizations trend toward more relationship-oriented and collaborative traits, Carrillo said, because women are “culturally driven” to embrace such a nature.

To her point, a 2020 study led by a University of Arizona researcher found that female leaders “tend to be more democratic and participatory,” whereas their male counterparts “are more independent and assertive.”

The researchers, who analyzed data from several hundred managers of welfare and financial agencies in Denmark, identified three measures of leadership: transformational leadership, use of verbal rewards and use of material rewards. Results showed that workers on average rated women “significantly higher” than men in the transformational leadership category, with 72.2 points compared with 66.3 on a 100-point scale.

“Women aren’t better leaders; they just lead differently,” Walaski said. “And those different leadership styles can be complementary, and both can work within an organization for different kinds of situations and strategies.”

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Efforts for equity

In some respects, Carrillo said, the cultural climate creates an intuitive pathway for women to enter EHS professions.

“Human beings are not logical decision-making machines,” she said. “We’re primarily emotional, social beings, and women are raised to pay attention to the people and emotions and to get people to work together and collaborate. All of those have become wholly appreciated skills in the workplace. And in safety it’s really good, because people that are attracted to safety tend to be very purpose-driven people concerned about people. They want to contribute something positive in the world, so women are going to be attracted to this field because it is a place where they can fulfill their purpose and realize their talents.”

Martin also encourages leaders in the safety community to reach out and invite women to consider a turn in safety, as part of their professional journey. Exploring a new opportunity can inspire the potential for tremendous growth.

“There’s a great appetite to get more voices at the table right now,” Martin said. “We’re all going to be safer when we have the broadest set of recommendations, perspectives and viewpoints. When everyone’s at the table, we generate better solutions to help people live fuller lives – something we all should commit to.”

For Freeman, one way female safety pros and leaders can boost influence and equality in the workplace is to take gender out of the equation, beginning with their own cognitive processes. Approach a job task or situation not as a female safety pro, but as a safety pro – period.

“If you believe they’re viewing you as a girl and they’re talking to you the way that they are because you’re a girl, then that’s how you’re going to portray it. Instead of, ‘This is my co-worker. This is what I’d like to learn,’” she said. “That’s why I say take gender out of it and take the fact you’re a woman out of your own head. And there will be challenges; I’m not denying that. But you’ve just got to stay strong and stay steady.”

As female safety pros build relationships and influencing skills, however, additional issues may arise as they balance others’ perceptions or stereotypes.

“I think there’s still a stigma around a woman who’s kind of a bit confident and very goal-oriented, that she may be labeled aggressive,” Thunich said. “That’s just something that we as women continue to struggle with. I think we are held to a different standard than male counterparts, you know. I think in the past, that’s been a challenge, where I’ll observe those behaviors in my male counterparts, but also those things may be identified more visibly because I’m a woman.

“So I think there’s still some of that that goes on that’s difficult, and again, I think it comes down to this is work that the organizations need to do. This is not one company’s problem. It’s a cultural shift that has to happen in the workplace in general.”

Experts stress that many positive developments are afoot.

“We just need to have the time to see it play through,” Thunich said.