Peter Batrowny is an industry-leading and global environmental health, safety, and physical security executive with a progressive career history and quantifiable track record of success. After serving his country in the U.S. Army, Peter propelled his professional growth while simultaneously expanding the growth and effectiveness of environmental, sustainability, safety, and physical security programs on a global scale.
Peter currently serves as a senior consultant for SafeStart, a safety company dedicated to reducing preventable deaths and injuries both on and off the job by making human factors more understandable, safety training more personable, and giving organizations around the world a more engaging and useful approach to keeping people safe.
For our latest Faces of EHS profile, brought to you by SafeStart, we sat down with Peter to discuss his biggest industry influences, leadership, and safety culture.
Q: How did you get your start in the field?
I started my career in the U.S. military. Then, while working in industry, I had various roles in EHS, operations, maintenance, and, as many are familiar, combinations of these areas. I was asked to join a corporate team that was tasked with developing a world class safety culture, world class EHS standards and programs, and eliminating serious injuries and fatalities. It was one of the most exciting and rewarding challenges of my professional career and I couldn’t wait to dive in! Once I started learning about organizational culture and the important role leadership plays in operational excellence I was hooked. I have been focusing on safety, culture, and leadership transformation ever since.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence in the industry?
I think the easy answer here is some of the obvious thought leaders in safety performance and consulting. Many of these leaders have had a huge impact on developing the intellectual side of my career (Sidney Dekker, Todd Conklin, Larry Wilson, Don Wilson, Andrea Baker, etc.). For me the people who have had the biggest impact are the leaders I have worked with that understand the value of the intellectual side and also the importance of being invested in the success of the people they serve (Colin Duncan, Laszlo Hary, Doug Ponstler, Kelley Norris, Barb Tait to name just a few).
Q: What’s your best mistake and what did you learn from it?
I am not sure I would call it a mistake, more of an oversight. When we were developing our strategies to evolve culture and eliminate serious injuries and fatalities, we initially overlooked the influence front line leaders have on all aspects of a business’s success, especially when it comes to safety. We initially focused on senior leaders and frontline workers, and although we did have initial success, once we started developing the frontline leaders technical and soft skills, we started seeing dramatic and sustainable improvements.
Q: What’s your favorite and least favorite part about working in the industry? Would you change anything?
I believe managing the complexities and variability of people is the answer to all three. It can be very difficult to influence change across a diverse workforce, but also extremely rewarding to see individuals come around to new thinking, new processes, and developing new skills that help keep everyone safer.
As humans, we tend to gravitate toward things we are comfortable with. As leaders we must make a deliberate effort to do things that make us uncomfortable. Having a difficult conversation with someone or intervening in an unsafe situation can be challenging. Some leaders, especially young leaders, admit that they have avoided these types of situations. I can understand this sentiment, and it’s not always fun to have these sorts of interventions, but I have found that practicing the right skills can help leaders get more comfortable handling these situations.
Q: What are your thoughts on safety culture? How can company leaders make safety a value within their organization?
The term “safety culture” is used frequently however, I believe “safety culture” is an important element of an organization’s overall culture. We know culture is difficult to change. Understanding the concept of climate and its relationship to culture is important. Leaders that consistently role model the characteristics and behaviors they value personally can have an influence on an organization’s values.
One of the challenges many organizations face is the simple fact that we receive immediate or almost immediate feedback for productivity and quality performance. For safety and other people related element of our business the feedback can be delayed. Understanding how the human factors that reside in organizational systems and impact individual’s actions and thinking can help us lead safety in real time.
Q: What safety concerns or issues do you think need more prioritization in EHS programs?
As technology permeates our lives, leaders need to carefully consider the positive and sometimes unintentional negative impacts technology has on people. Technology designed to make our lives easier usually has other impacts on our actions. Developing our understanding of human factors is a big step in understanding and coaching people related to these impacts.
Q: What are you most proud of?
This may be influenced by recency bias, but I am most proud of the transition from working in industry to consulting. It was a seemingly short hop over the fence. My experience in consulting has brought some very rewarding challenges, allowed me to work with organizations in diverse industries and ultimately have a potential influence on many more people than I ever could working in industry. Both roles are vital for safety, and I am blessed to be able to apply the knowledge and experience I gained over the years working in industry in this new facet of my career.
Q: Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Always keep in mind it is about people. Continuously improving our technical knowledge is important. Keeping in mind the processes, programs, and initiatives we are part of developing are ultimately intended for people is imperative.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
When I am coaching frontline leaders, I ask them to think of a leader that had a positive impact on them; and what was it about the leader that was special to them. By far the most common characteristic of an impactful leader, that people mention, is humility. A humble leader can have a profound effect on the environment at work and in our leadership roles outside of work. Humility can lead to building trust and facilitating engagement that are essential to success.