The Role of an Executive Safety Committee

Why an Executive Safety Committee is Essential

To maintain executive-level oversight and accountability for safety risk decisions and trends, organizations must establish a formal, regularly scheduled mechanism for reviewing safety risks, the effectiveness of safety risk controls and safety performance. This ensures that the Accountable Executive for Safety—the one executive with ultimate responsibility, authority, and accountability for the safety program—remains informed and engaged, along with other key executive and senior leaders. 

A structured Executive Safety Committee, commonly referred to as the Safety Review Board (SRB), provides this oversight. 

What is an Executive Safety Committee and How Often Should It Meet?

The Executive Safety Committee is a structured, executive-level meeting that brings together senior leadership to review and oversee safety performance.

The Executive Safety Committee serves as the central forum where executive leadership:

• Reviews current and emerging safety risks

• Makes decisions on the highest-risk issues

• Evaluates operational safety performance

• Ensures accountability for critical safety actions

Without a dedicated Executive Safety Committee, changes in safety risks or the effectiveness of safety risk controls may go unseen, executive leadership may be disconnected from safety risk decisions being made on their behalf (delegated) to lower levels of leadership, and accountability of execution of important safety processes, such as safety corrective actions, may weaken.

The frequency of SRB meetings depends on the organization’s safety risk profile and overall complexity. Perhaps for nascent high-risk, fast-evolving operations, a bi-weeky cadence is necessary. Or for more stable organizations with less change, a monthly or even bi-month cadence will suffice. My feeling is that a quarterly cadence is probably the longest gap between meetings you would want. 

Regardless of frequency, the Executive Safety Committee must be consistent to maintain safety as a continuous strategic focus, provide proper oversight of the safety performance of the organization and socialize changing safety risk profiles.

Key Objectives of the Executive Safety Committee

Reviewing Current and Emerging Safety Risks

In most organizations, safety risk is dynamic—constantly shifting due to changes in operational procedures, expansion, growth, or even reduction in operations, new or altered equipment, hardware, or software, leadership restructuring or organizational changes, and financial shifts impacting risk mitigation strategies.

As these factors evolve, the Executive Safety Committee must stay informed to:

• Socialize changes – ensuring all stakeholders understand shifts in safety risk.

• Evaluate risk decisions – determining whether risks should be accepted or mitigated.

• Assess risk control effectiveness – ensuring existing measures are keeping risk at acceptable levels.

Making Decisions on High-Risk Safety Issues

The Executive Safety Committee serves as the final decision-making body for the organization’s highest safety risks. In many safety management programs I have designed, the most extreme safety risks require formal review and approval by the Accountable Executive for Safety—ideally, the CEO. By bringing these critical safety risks to the Executive Safety Committee, the Accountable Executive gains direct input from other key executives who oversee risk-related operations, top legal counsel, ensuring liability considerations are addressed, and the safety leadership team, who provide data-driven insights.

This approach ensures that the Accountable Executive makes informed decisions that balance safety, operational goals, and legal responsibilities.

Evaluating Operational Safety and SMS Performance

The Executive Safety Committee must review the organization’s overall safety performance, including:

• Incident rates and safety trends from audits, field observations, and evaluations.

• Adherence to safety policies and procedures—ensuring organizational alignment with safety goals.

• Progress toward safety program milestones and performance indicators.

This data-driven approach allows leadership to identify weaknesses, allocate resources, and prioritize improvements before small risks escalate into major incidents.

Overseeing Accountability for Critical Safety Actions

The Executive Safety Committee plays a key role in ensuring follow-through on critical safety actions that stem from incident investigations, safety concern reports, audit findings and evaluations, and identified through safety risk assessment.

The committee oversees whether corrective actions are progressing and where delays are occurring. If key safety actions stall due to lack of prioritization or funding, the Executive Safety Committee provides executive visibility and intervention—allowing leadership to reprioritize resources for the most critical safety actions and ensure department accountability for closing outstanding actions. This level of executive oversight prevents safety issues from becoming long-term, unaddressed risks.

Who Should Be Part of the Executive Safety Committee?

To be effective, the Executive Safety Committee must include senior leaders with authority over safety and risk decisions. (see blog on “Who Owns Safety Risk”) A typical quorum includes:

• The Accountable Executive for Safety – Typically the CEO or less ideally COO

• Chief Technology/Product Officer – Ensures alignment with product and system safety

• Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Oversees operational safety execution

• General Counsel or Chief Legal Officer – Addresses legal and liability risks, protects the executive team

• Head of Safety – Provides expert insights on safety risk management

• Key Process Owning Leadership - Owners of the safety risk identified within their programs

This diverse leadership representation ensures that safety decisions are integrated into broader business strategy rather than operating in isolation.

Conclusion: Safety as a Strategic Priority

The Executive Safety Committee plays a critical role in ensuring not only that safety remains a core business priority but that the executive team is well informed on the organization's risk profile. If your organization does not yet have an Executive Safety Committee in place, now is the time to establish one! With strong executive oversight, safety becomes an embedded strategic priority—driving long-term resilience, compliance, and operational success.