Strategy C: Institutionalize Safety Roles and Responsibilities

-Strategic Transportation Safety Plan-

Strategy C

State and local agencies and organizations are not always empowered to implement safety programs and projects through a consistent, agreed-upon process. This can create confusion as to roles and responsibilities, leaving gaps in implementation in some areas and duplicated efforts in others. It can also hinder efforts to build a successful statewide safety culture over time, especially as key personnel change roles.
One of the critical strategies in the STSP is Strategy C, which calls for establishing partnerships and increasing collaboration between state agencies and organizations to deliver high-quality and effective safety programming. This strategy would establish agreements that define the ways agencies and organizations work together to deliver safety programs, including roles and responsibilities. These will be formal mechanisms such as a memorandum of understanding that define the safety-related roles and integrate safety targets into performance reviews. Less formal arrangements may be appropriate at local levels. These agreements would create a more complete safety program and culture statewide while closing gaps in implementation and avoiding redundancy.
Collaboration among stakeholders is essential to a successful safety program, however, it is not so simple to execute. This strategy will take time to achieve the full potential of its effectiveness as organizations work together to identify appropriate safety roles and responsibilities. Establishing the necessary formal agreements could also require a longer timeline. If you are interested in helping to establish safety roles and responsibilities within your agency or organization, please contact Manjari Bhat, Colorado’s Safety Champion at [email protected].