Selling Safety: Lessons from a Former Front-line Supervisor

To be successful, we need to understand the basic principles of selling and leadership, and how those aspects apply to safety. Supervisors have the greatest influence on employee behavior and are often held accountable for safety performance. Selling safety to upper management is different; it’s very different than selling safety to the front-line employee. Selling Safety: Lessons from a Former Front-Line Supervisor explains the three key characteristics of a successful leader; Vision, Knowledge and Heart. Patrick Karol relates these core characteristics to safety leadership and provides actions that can be used today. He explains the lessons learned based on his experiences and the teachings of current leaders inside and outside the safety field.

Patrick J. Karol is the President of Karol Safety Consulting, LLC and holds a BBA from Georgia State University. Pat holds certifications as a Safety Management Specialist, Associate in Risk Management and is a Certified Safety Professional
Pat’s work in the safety field began as a front-line supervisor with safety as a collateral duty, and now involves advising senior leaders on strategies to reduce risk. His experience includes over 20 years in the corporate safety departments of two Fortune 200 companies and the Federal government. Pat currently works as an independent safety and health consultant specializing in strategic safety planning and motivational speaking.

Pat’s professional safety career includes:

• Sr Director of Safety with EEC Environmental.

• Safety Manager at ARAMARK Corporation Safety & Risk Control Department. Responsibilities include working with senior leadership to develop strategies and tactics to reduce risk of injury, environmental exposure and food borne illnesses.

• Safety and Health contractor to the Transportation Security Administration where he managed a team who were responsible for compliance at all US airports in the southeast region.

• Safety Manager at Delta Air Lines Corporate Safety Department. Responsibilities include investigation of serious accidents, development of procedures and training, identification of trends and development of mitigation strategies, and assisting with OSHA VPP applications.

Pat is a successful speaker and has spoken on safety and health at numerous regional and national conferences. He spoke most recently at Safety 2019, AIHce 2019, the Georgia Chapter of ASSP Professional Development Conference 2018 and the Georgia SHE Conference 2018.

Pat is a past President of the American Society Safety Professionals (ASSP) Philadelphia chapter and was honored to receive the Gold Level award for 2014/15. He is currently the Area Director for the ASSP Keystone (Pennsylvania) Area for 2017-2021.