Balancing Priorities as a Safety Manager: Strategies to Stay Effective and Avoid Burnout
December 16, 2024
Safety managers wear many hats—problem solver, mentor, policy enforcer. But when every task feels urgent, burnout is never far behind. Whether you’re rushing to address an incident report, preparing for a site audit or fielding employee questions about safety protocols, the demands can feel relentless.
Despite these challenges, most EHS managers push themselves relentlessly because they understand the importance of their role. Many have seen firsthand how their efforts save lives and are driven by a strong commitment to protect others. Safety professionals don’t need to be reminded of the significance of their work—it’s the deep sense of responsibility that fuels them to keep going, even when the weight of their role feels overwhelming.
Scott Gerard, a safety professional, describes his career as “42 years strapped to a pager or some kind of electronic leash,” always wondering, “Did somebody get hurt? Did we tear something up? Did someone get killed?” This constant vigilance is both a hallmark of the role and a main source of burnout.
Balancing this dedication with the pressures of a demanding job—while ensuring compliance, fostering a safe workplace and meeting organizational goals—requires a thoughtful approach. This blog will explore practical strategies to help safety managers prioritize effectively, reduce stress and maintain balance in their work lives.
The Reality of Competing Priorities
The role of a safety manager is demanding because it requires balancing multiple responsibilities, often with conflicting priorities. Here are some common challenges:
Urgent Response vs. Planned Preventative Activities
Safety managers must constantly pivot between reactive and proactive tasks. Addressing incidents like workplace accidents or compliance violations demands immediate attention, leaving little time for proactive measures such as safety training, hazard assessments and implementing preventative strategies.
Administrative Tasks vs. Field Presence
Documentation and reporting are critical for compliance, but they can often feel at odds with the need for on-site visibility. Being present in the field builds trust, reinforces safety culture and provides valuable insights into workplace conditions.
However, safety managers often find themselves bogged down with paperwork, inspections and compliance reporting, pulling them away from face-to-face interactions with employees.
“As an EHS leader, you get further away from what brought you into the field. You do less of your profession and become more of an administrator, which can feel disheartening,” Gerard notes.
Company-Wide vs. Site-Specific Needs
Safety managers often have to navigate organizational safety goals while addressing the unique needs of individual sites. This may involve competing demands from various stakeholders or a lack of clarity around priorities.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re out of sync with the organization. You know what needs to be done, but budget constraints or profitability goals delay critical safety measures,” says Gerard.
This tension keeps stress levels high, creating a constant challenge for safety managers. For example, leadership might not prioritize cost-saving measures, such as not putting up new guardrails on the roof, that conflict with fall protection safety investments. Safety professionals must constantly weigh these priorities, ensuring alignment without compromising the unique challenges of specific locations.
Engaging Employees vs. Being a “Safety Cop”
Building a safety-first culture requires a nuanced approach that balances trust, collaboration and enforcement. Safety managers must navigate the delicate line between ensuring compliance and maintaining employee engagement. Lean too heavily on enforcement, and you risk fostering resentment or fear among employees. On the other hand, focusing solely on engagement can lead to overlooked protocols or safety gaps.
“Deviations in behavior aren’t about being mischievous or belligerent. They simply make sense to the person in the moment. Convincing someone to act on something they’re not fully bought into takes significant effort, and over time, that struggle can lead to burnout,” Gerard points out.
The challenge lies in creating an environment where employees are motivated to prioritize safety, not because they feel monitored, but because they genuinely understand its value. When employees see the reasoning behind decisions and feel heard, they’re more likely to actively contribute to a culture of safety.
High Workloads and Time Pressure
Safety managers are tasked with managing an ever-growing list of responsibilities, from compliance audits and inspections to training programs and risk assessments. The workload can be overwhelming, especially when unexpected emergencies like accidents or equipment failures occur. With so many tasks demanding their attention, safety managers often face intense time pressure, making it challenging to prioritize effectively.
The total effect of these challenges can leave safety managers feeling stretched thin and constantly playing catch-up. Balancing urgent and long-term tasks, administrative and field responsibilities and the emotional and physical demands of the role requires a thoughtful approach.
Stress Isn’t the Enemy—Mismanagement Is
Stress is a natural survival mechanism that helps us respond to challenges and adapt to new situations. In the workplace, it can push us to meet deadlines, handle emergencies or deliver high-stakes presentations. For safety managers, stress might come from responding to an incident, meeting compliance requirements or navigating competing priorities. Managed effectively, stress can sharpen focus, motivate action and drive productivity.
“Safety professionals are empathetic and caring by nature,” Gerard explains. “But that empathy, coupled with limited support from leadership and the pressure to meet numbers, creates a perfect storm for burnout.”
The problem arises when stress is left unmanaged, which is often the root cause of burnout. Burnout doesn’t happen overnight; instead, it develops when workplace stress becomes chronic, overwhelming and poorly addressed. For instance, the pressure to balance administrative tasks with field presence can lead to exhaustion if responsibilities aren’t delegated or prioritized effectively.
Mismanagement of stress contributes to burnout in several ways. Failing to prioritize tasks or set boundaries can lead to a constant state of “firefighting,” where every task feels urgent. Over time, this leaves no room for recovery, making it harder to focus or make sound decisions. High workloads compounded by frequent interruptions or unclear expectations can exacerbate the problem, leading to reduced productivity and a sense of helplessness.
For safety managers, the emotional demands of the role can amplify the effects of burnout. Dealing with workplace accidents, injuries or employees in distress is emotionally taxing and, without proper support or training, can take a significant toll on mental health. When stress is mismanaged, safety professionals may find themselves disengaged, cynical or even questioning their ability to perform their role effectively.
Frameworks for Prioritization
Managing competing priorities is a core challenge for safety managers, but proven prioritization frameworks can provide clarity and reduce stress. These tools not only help organize tasks but also ensure that energy and resources are directed toward what matters most, helping to prevent burnout and maintain control.
The Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix categorizes tasks into four quadrants based on their urgency and importance:
- Urgent and Important: Tasks requiring immediate attention. For example, addressing a major safety incident or resolving a critical compliance issue.
- Important but Not Urgent: Tasks that are vital but can be scheduled, such as developing a comprehensive safety training program or updating policies.
- Urgent but Not Important: Tasks that can be delegated, such as routine administrative work or follow-ups on low-risk maintenance issues.
- Neither Urgent nor Important: Tasks that add little value, such as attending unnecessary meetings or overanalyzing low-priority concerns.
The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)
The Pareto Principle helps safety managers identify and focus on the 20% of tasks that yield 80% of results. This principle is particularly effective for prioritizing efforts in safety initiatives where impact varies.
Example: Instead of spreading resources evenly across all hazards, focus on training programs targeting the most common workplace risks first. For instance, if 80% of incidents arise from three specific hazards, prioritizing training and mitigation strategies for those areas can drive significant improvements.
These frameworks can help manage stress by creating structure and reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed. When safety managers know which tasks to tackle, which to delegate and which to defer or eliminate, they can work with greater confidence and efficiency.
Actionable Strategies to Prevent Burnout
Safety managers can prevent burnout by incorporating practical strategies to manage their workload, reduce stress and foster resilience. Here are actionable steps to regain control and maintain balance in this demanding role:
Delegate and Collaborate
Build a trusted team to share responsibilities effectively. Empower team members to take ownership of specific tasks, such as routine inspections or documentation. Collaboration not only lightens the workload but also fosters a sense of shared purpose and accountability.
Adopt Wellness Routines
Prioritize self-care with daily habits that support physical and mental health. Practices like mindfulness, regular exercise and maintaining clear work-life boundaries can help recharge energy levels and maintain focus.
Streamline Workflows
Identify repetitive or time-consuming tasks and seek ways to simplify them. Leveraging technology or improving processes can save hours each week, freeing up time for high-impact initiatives.
Set Realistic Expectations
Leveraging Technology to Lighten the Load
Modern tools can make a significant difference for safety managers, reducing the administrative burden and allowing them to focus on strategic priorities.
“One of the biggest challenges I’ve seen is that while leadership might genuinely care about worker health and safety, their focus often stops at traditional metrics like TRIR and other lagging indicators.
A platform like Intelex shifts the C-suite’s vision by emphasizing leading indicators. Through intuitive dashboards and the ability to overlay data from activities like observations, inspections, incidents and training hours, leadership gains a quick, clear snapshot of safety performance. This helps them understand that tracking proactive, leading indicators is far more important than relying solely on lagging metrics,” according to Gerard.
Key Intelex technologies include:
Health and Safety Software
Automate compliance tracking, inspections and reporting with specialized software. These tools eliminate manual tasks, reduce errors and ensure compliance deadlines are met effortlessly.
Mobile Apps
Improve real-time communication between field workers and managers through mobile applications. This technology supports faster incident reporting, efficient task delegation and better visibility into field operations.
Data Dashboards
Use dashboards to consolidate key safety metrics in one place. Quick access to insights enables safety managers to identify critical issues and allocate resources effectively, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
Prioritization Is Self-Care
As a safety manager, your ability to protect others starts with protecting yourself. Prioritizing effectively, managing stress and taking deliberate steps to prevent burnout isn’t just about personal well-being; it’s also essential for sustaining the critical work you do.
For Scott Gerard, moments of recognition helped reignite his passion for the field, even during challenging times. He recalls a pivotal encounter: “A huge guy approached me at a festival and said, ‘I like all that safety crap you’re doing. Keep it up—you’re keeping us safe.’ Moments like that remind you why this work matters.”
Remember, small, consistent changes can have a big impact. By leveraging strategies and tools to reduce stress and foster resilience, you can maintain balance and continue making a meaningful difference in workplace safety. Prioritize what truly matters, and don’t hesitate to invest in your own well-being as it’s the foundation of long-term success.
