WHAT
WHAT EVERY
EVERY SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
SHOULD
SHOULD KNOW
KNOW
Gather
Gatherinformation
informationabout
aboutaaproblem.
problem.
Put
Puttogether
togetherthe
theinformation
informationso
sothat
thatthe
theproblem
problemmakes
makessense.
sense.
Know
Knowwhat
whatyour
yourManagements
Managementsobjectives
objectivesare.
are.
Plan
Planfor
forthe
thegoals
goalstotobe
bereached
reachedby
byyour
yourgroup.
group.
Decide
Decideon
onthe
thecourse
courseofofaction.
action.
Put
Putright
rightman
manon
onthe
theright
rightjob.
job.
Communicate
Communicatewith
withyour
yoursuperiors
superiorsand
andalso
alsosubordinates.
subordinates.
Lead,
Lead,motivate
motivateand
andencourage
encourageemployees.
employees.
IfIfanything
anythinggoes
goeswrong,
wrong,try
trytotofind
findout
outwhat
whatisiswrong,
wrong,more
morethan
than
who
whoisiswrong.
wrong.
Direct,
Direct,guide
guideand
andconsult
consultwith
withemployees.
employees.
Evaluate
Evaluateresults
resultsand
andreview
reviewwork
workdone
donefor
forfurther
furtherimprovement.
improvement.
Develop
Developpeople
peopleby
byproper
propertraining
trainingand
andencouragement.
encouragement.
Very
Very Important
Important
WHAT
WHAT
EVERY
EVERY SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
SHOULD
SHOULD KNOW
KNOW
By
By Shailesh
Shailesh Mistry
Mistry
EHS
EHS Dept.
Dept.
ROLE
ROLE OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
Before
Beforeidentifying
identifyingthe
therole
roleofofthe
theSupervisor,
Supervisor,ititisisnecessary
necessarytoto
have
haveclarity
clarityabout
aboutthe
theplace
placeofofSupervisor
Supervisorininthe
theorganization.
organization.ItIt
isisnecessary
necessarytotounderstand
understandthe
theterm
termSupervision.
Supervision.
The
Theword
wordsupervision
supervisionisisderived
derivedfrom
fromthe
thetwo
twowords
wordsSuperior
Superior
and
andVision,
Vision,one
onewho
whohas
hassuperior
superiorvision
visionisisthe
theSupervisor.
Supervisor.
AASupervisor
SupervisorororForeman
Foreman(or
(orFore
Forewomen)
women)isisaachief
chiefworker
workerinin
charge
charge ofof aa group
group ofof workers
workers and
and who
who exercise
exercise such
such control
control
over
overthem
themas
asdelegated
delegatedtotohim
himby
bythe
theManagement.
Management.
AA Supervisor
Supervisor isis an
an important
important link
link oror keyman
keyman between
between
Management
Management and
and workers.
workers. He
He isis constant
constant on
on the
the shopfloor,
shopfloor,
more
more close
close toto the
the workers,
workers, devoting
devoting more
more time
time inin close
close
observation
observation ofof working
working conditions
conditions and
and action
action and
and has
has more
more
experience
experience ofof the
the job
job performance.
performance. He
He converts
converts Management
Management
policy
policyinto
intoaction,
action,with
withthe
theco-operation
co-operationofofworkers.
workers.
ROLE
ROLE OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR (Contd.)
(Contd.)
Management
Managementlooks
lookshim
himas
asaashop
shopfloor
floormanager
managerin-charge
in-chargeofof
men,
men, machine
machine and
and materials
materials and
and responsible
responsible for
for mens
mens
behaviour
behaviouron
onjobs
jobs
Workers
Workerslook
lookhim
himas
astheir
theirrepresentatives
representativesfor
forthe
theManagement.
Management.
Management
Management likes
likes toto influence
influence workers
workers behaviour
behaviour through
through
supervisor
supervisor and
and the
the workers
workers like
like toto gain
gain first
first hand
hand knowledge
knowledge
through
throughsupervisor.
supervisor.
Management
Management achieves
achieves their
their targets,
targets, resources,
resources, and
and facilities
facilities
through
throughsupervisor.
supervisor.Therefore
Thereforegood
goodsupervisors
supervisorsare
areessential
essentialfor
for
effective
effective implementation
implementation ofof Management
Management policy
policy on
on the
the shop
shop
floor.
floor.
For
For understanding
understanding the
the place
place ofof the
the supervisor
supervisor inin the
the
management
management structure,
structure, let
let us
us first
first delineate
delineate the
the levels
levels and
and
functions
functionsininmanagerial
managerialhierarchy
hierarchyininevery
everyorganization.
organization.
ROLE
ROLE OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR (Contd.)
(Contd.)
We
Wehave
have the
thetop
top management,
management, the
the senior
senior level
level management,
management,
the
the middle
middle level
level and
and the
the supervisors.
supervisors. The
The levels
levels can
can be
be
represented
representedby
byaapyramidal
pyramidalstructure.
structure.
The
The function
function ofof supervisors
supervisors however,
however, are
are very
very closely
closely
associated
with
the
interaction
of
supervisor
with
the
human
associated with the interaction of supervisor with the human
resources
resourcesofofthe
theorganization.
organization.
InIn other
other words
words supervisor
supervisor isis the
the most
most vital
vital link
link between
between the
the
Management
Managementand
andhuman
humanresources
resourcesI.e.
I.e.employees
employeesiningeneral.
general.
As
As his
his duty
duty isis toto implement
implement managements
managements policy,
policy, by
by getting
getting
work
workdone,
done,but
butthe
theprocess
processofofimplementation
implementationisisbest
bestwith
withmany
many
problems.
problems.
Supervisors
Supervisorssuccess
successdepends
dependsheavily
heavilyon
onhis
hisbeing
beingaccepted
acceptedby
by
the
thehigher
highermanagement
managementwith
withtrust
trustand
andconfidence.
confidence.
ROLE
ROLE OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR (Contd..)
(Contd..)
He
He has
has toto get
getco-operation
co-operationofofhis
hiscolleagues.
colleagues.He
Hehas
has also
alsototo
earn
earnthe
theconfidence
confidenceofofthe
theworkers
workerswithout
withoutdiluting
dilutinghis
hisauthority
authority
as
as aa supervisor
supervisor with
with these
these objectives
objectives inin view,
view, he
he has
has toto
undertake
undertakefollowing
followingfunctions:
functions:
His
His overall
overall responsibility
responsibility isis toto get
get improved
improved performance.
performance. For
For
this
thispurpose
purposehe
hemust
mustknow
knowthe
thepolicy
policyofofthe
themanagement.
management.
ItItisisupto
uptothe
thehigher
highermanagement
managementtotokeep
keephim
himinformed
informedabout
about
the
thereasons
reasonsleading
leadingtotothe
theframing
framingofofthe
thepolicy.
policy.
InInorder
ordertotoget
getimproved
improvedperformance,
performance,the
thesupervisor
supervisormust
mustbe
be
keen
keen on
on his
his own
own development.
development. Development
Development inin skills
skills and
and
techniques
techniquescan
canbe
beacquired
acquiredthrough
throughtraining.
training.
The
The development
development ofof positive
positive attitude
attitude for
for improving
improving his
his own
own
personality
personalityand
andperformance
performanceis,
is,however,
however,aacontinuous
continuousprocess
process
totally
totallydepending
dependingon
onhimself.
himself.
ROLE
ROLE OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR (Contd..)
(Contd..)
Supervisor
Supervisorhas
hastotoearliest
earliestthe
theco-operation
co-operationofofthe
thepeople,
people,not
notby
by
coercing
coercingthem
thembut
butthrough
throughvoluntary
voluntaryinteraction.
interaction.For
Forthis
thispurpose
purpose
he
hehas
hastotomotivate
motivatethe
theworkers
workersfor
forimproved
improvedperformance
performanceand
and
develop
developthem
themnot
notonly
onlyas
asgood
goodworkers
workersbut
butas
asgood
goodmen.
men.
Performance
Performance through
through co-operation
co-operation isis possibly
possiblyonly
only as
as aa group
group
effort.
effort.The
Thesupervisor,
supervisor,has
hastherefore,
therefore,the
theresponsibility
responsibilityofofteam
team
building
buildingand
andgiving
givingthe
theteam
teaman
anacceptable
acceptableleadership.
leadership.
Without
Without discipline,
discipline, performance
performance cannot
cannot be
be improved.
improved. ItIt isis the
the
responsibility
of
the
supervisor
to
touch
in
employees
discipline
responsibility of the supervisor to touch in employees discipline
ofofwork
workand
anddiscipline
disciplineofoftime.
time.He
Hehas
hastotodo
dothis
thismore
morethrough
through
persuasion
persuasionthan
thanthrough
throughthe
theuse
useofofpower.
power.
A
A GOOD
GOOD SUPERVISORS
SUPERVISORS FUNCTIONS
FUNCTIONS
Assurance
Assuranceofofquality
qualityproduction
productionwithin
withinspecified
specifiedtime
timeand
andcost.
cost.He
He
has
to
see
quality,
quantity,
efficiency
and
effectiveness
all
at
a
time.
has to see quality, quantity, efficiency and effectiveness all at a time.
This
Thisrequire
requirehigh
highskill.
skill.
Constant
Constantwatch
watchover
oversafe
safeconditions
conditionsand,
and,action
actionfor
foraccident
accidentless
less
production.
production. He
He has
has toto teach
teach Safety
Safety through
through his
his behaviour.
behaviour. His
His
attitude
attitudeisisfirst
firstretracted.
retracted.
He
Hehas
hastotosee
seecontinuity
continuityininproduction.
production.Therefore,
Therefore,he
hemanages
managestoto
repair
repairthe
themachine
machineand
andrestart
restartthe
thejob
jobatatthe
theearliest
earliestpossible.
possible.
He
Hehelps
helpsthe
theworkers
workersinintraining
trainingthem
themfor
fortheir
theirjobs
jobsand
andininsolving
solving
their
theirproblems.
problems.
He
Heensures
ensuressafety
safetythrough
throughfour
fourmajor
majorareas:
areas:
(a)
(a)Working
Workingmachine
machine/ /equipment
equipmentand
andthe
thejob.
job.
(b)
(b)Work
Workarea
area/ /environment
environmentororsurrounding.
surrounding.
(c)
(c)Work
Workmethods
methodsand
andaction;
action;and
and
(d)
(d)Work
Workattitudes.
attitudes.
A
A GOOD
GOOD SUPERVISORS
SUPERVISORS FUNCTIONS
FUNCTIONS
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
For
For this
this purpose
purpose his
his duty
duty isis toto inspect
inspect machine
machine conditions,
conditions, job
job
conditions,
conditions, surrounding
surrounding situations,
situations, working
working methods
methods and
and workers
workers
attitudes
and
tries
to
remove
any
defect
if
noticed.
Keep
check
attitudes and tries to remove any defect if noticed. Keep checklist
list
for
this
purpose.
His
duty
is
to
establish
work
methods,
assignment
for this purpose. His duty is to establish work methods, assignment
ofofjob
jobtotopersons,
persons,job
jobinstruction
instructionand
andmaintain
maintainsafe
safereaction
reactionofofman
man
and
andmachine.
machine.
InIn case
case ofof any
any matter
matter out
out ofof his
his control,
control, he
he should
should immediately
immediately
report
reporttotohis
hishigher
higherofficer.
officer.Meanwhile
Meanwhilehe
hemakes
makestemporary
temporarysafety
safety
arrangements.
arrangements.
He
He pays
pays his
his best
best attention
attention on
on good
good maintenance
maintenance ofof machines,
machines,
materials,
materials,tools
toolsand
andalso
alsoon
ongood
goodhouse
housekeeping.
keeping.
He
Hereports
reportsall
allaccidents
accidentsand
anddefects,
defects,totothe
theManagement
Managementand
andcarry
carry
out
outtheir
theirinvestigations
investigationsfor
forthe
thepurpose
purposeofofstopping
stoppingits
itsrecurrence.
recurrence.
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
Investigating
Investigatingall
allaccidents
accidentstotodetermine
determinecauses.
causes.
Inspecting
Inspectinghis
hisarea
arearoutinely
routinelyand
andregularly
regularlytotouncover
uncoverhazards.
hazards.
Training
Traininghis
hispeople
peopleso
sothey
theyknow
knowhow
howtotowork
worksafely.
safely.
Motivating
Motivatinghis
hispeople
peopleso
sothey
theywant
wanttotowork
worksafely.
safely.
Responsibility
Responsibilityassigned
assignedtotosupervisor
supervisorisistotoprevent
preventaccident
accidentinintheir
their
department.
department.
They
Theyare
aredirectly
directlyresponsible
responsiblefor
formaintaining
maintainingsafe
safeworking
workingconditions
conditions
and
andpractices
practicesand
andfor
forthe
thesafety
safetyofofall
allmen
menunder
undertheir
theirsupervision.
supervision.
A
A GOOD
GOOD SUPERVISORS
SUPERVISORS FUNCTIONS
FUNCTIONS
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
He
Hesupplies
suppliesproper
properprotective
protectiveequipments
equipmentstotoworkers
workersand
andpersuade
persuade
totouse
usethem.
them.
He
He tires
tires toto understand
understand workers
workers difficulties.
difficulties. He
He observes
observes
physiological
and
psychological
factors
such
as
body
movement,
physiological and psychological factors such as body movement,
walking
walkingobservation
observationetc.
etc.and
andtries
triestotofind
findthe
thesolutions.
solutions.
He
Hehas
hastotocarry
carryout
outcompliance
complianceofofsafety
safetymeasures
measuressuggested
suggestedby
by
safety
safetydepartment,
department,Factory
FactoryInspector
Inspectorand
andother
otherauthorities.
authorities.Here
Herehe
he
needs
needssupport
supportfrom
fromthe
theManagement
Managementas
aswell
wellas
asworkers.
workers.
He
Hehas
hastotofill
fillrequisite
requisiteproduction
productionreport,
report,performance
performancereport,
report,safety
safety
report
report and
and other
other records
records required.
required. This
This requires
requires his
his many
many fold
fold
personality.
personality.
Thus,
Thus,supervisor
supervisorisisthe
thekey
keyperson
persontotoany
anysafety
safetyprogramme.
programme.
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
No
NoManagement
Managementcan
cansucceed
succeedwithout
withoutdistribution
distributionofofresponsibility
responsibilityatat
different
differentlevel
levelororlines
linesand
andproceeding
proceedingthrough
throughall
allsuch
suchlevel.
level.The
The
words
wordsresponsibility,
responsibility,accountability
accountabilityand
andauthority
authorityare
areused
usedside
sideby
by
side
sidecreating
creatingconfusion.
confusion.Therefore,
Therefore,they
theyare
aredefined
definedas
asfollows:
follows:
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITYisisaaduty
dutyororactivity
activityassigned
assignedtotoaagiven
givenpositions.
positions.
ItItrequires
to
answer
for
activities
and
results
in
Safety.
requires to answer for activities and results in Safety.
AASupervisor
Supervisorisisalways
alwaysresponsible
responsiblefor
forthe
theaction
actionofofhis
hissubordinates
subordinates
and
and cannot
cannot escape
escape from
from his
his responsibility
responsibility by
by delegation,
delegation, through
through
responsibility
responsibilitystarts
startsfrom
fromthe
thetop
topexecutives.
executives.Thus
Thusmajor
majorrole
roleofofthe
the
safety
safety programme
programme isis belonging
belonging toto the
the supervisor.
supervisor. Everything
Everything that
that
everybody
everybodyelse
elsedoes
doesisisworthless
worthlessififthe
thesupervisor
supervisordoes
doesnot
notdo
dohis
his
job.
job.There
Thereare
arefour
fourkey
keytasks
tasksthat
thatbelong
belongtotothe
thesupervisor
supervisorininevery
every
safety
safetyprogramme.
programme.
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
Investigating
Investigatingall
allaccidents
accidentstotodetermine
determinecauses.
causes.
Inspecting
Inspectinghis
hisarea
arearoutinely
routinelyand
andregularly
regularlytotouncover
uncoverhazards.
hazards.
Training
Traininghis
hispeople
peopleso
sothey
theyknow
knowhow
howtotowork
worksafely.
safely.
Motivating
Motivatinghis
hispeople
peopleso
sothey
theywant
wanttotowork
worksafely.
safely.
Responsibility
Responsibilityassigned
assignedtotosupervisor
supervisorisistotoprevent
preventaccident
accidentinintheir
their
department.
department.
They
They are
are directly
directly responsible
responsible for
for maintaining
maintaining safe
safe working
working
conditions
conditionsand
andpractices
practicesand
andfor
forthe
thesafety
safetyofofall
allmen
menunder
undertheir
their
supervision.
supervision.
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
Now
Nowhere
hereisisthe
thequality
qualityofofsupervision
supervisionmore
moreapparent
apparentthan
thanininhouse
house
keeping.
Good
house
keeping
is
not
only
essential
of
safety
but
keeping. Good house keeping is not only essential of safety butalso
also
indicative
indicativeofofan
anefficient
efficientdepartment.
department.
Each
Each supervisor
supervisor isis responsible
responsible for
for the
the proper
proper training
training ofof the
the
employees
employees reporting
reporting toto him.
him. Job
Job hazards
hazards and
and safe
safe procedures
procedures
should
shouldbe
befully
fullyexplained
explainedtotoeach
eachemployee
employeebefore
beforehe
hebegins
beginswork.
work.
supervisor
supervisorshould
shouldsee
seethat
thatrequired
requiredpersonal
personalprotective
protectiveequipments
equipments
used
usedininaccordance
accordancewith
withsafety
safetyrules
rulesand
andpractices.
practices.
To
Toencourage
encourageemployees
employeesfor
forsafety,
safety,using
usingsafety
safetysuggestions,
suggestions,and
and
give
give them
them immediate
immediate consideration
consideration isis part
part ofof supervisors
supervisors
responsibility.
responsibility. He
He can
can arrange
arrange departmental
departmental safety
safety meetings
meetings as
as
often
often as
as necessary
necessary toto create
create safe
safe work
work method
method and
and practices.
practices.
Supervisor
Supervisor can
can enforce
enforce safety
safety rules
rules and
and regulations
regulations inin each
each and
and
every
everydepartment.
department.
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
Accident
Accidentreport
reportand
andfirst
firstaid
aidinincase
caseofofinjuries
injuriesshould
shouldbe
berendered
rendered
through
throughsupervisor
supervisoronly.
only.Because
Becausehe
heisisthe
thechief
chiefofofshop
shopfloor
floorand
and
first
firstaider.
aider.
More
Moreover,
over,principle
principleresponsibilities
responsibilitiesofofsupervisor
supervisorare:
are:
TO
TO ESTABLISH
ESTABLISH WORK
WORK METHOD:
METHOD: Many
Many injuries
injuries have
have been
been
reported
reportedtotoresult
resultfrom
fromunsafe
unsafemethods
methodsororprocedures,
procedures,investigation
investigation
discloses
disclosesthat
thatno
nostandard
standardmethod
methodororprocedure
procedurehad
hadbeen
beenset
setfor
for
these
thesejobs.
jobs.Job
Jobsafety
safetyanalysis
analysiswill
willfurnish
furnishthe
thebasic
basicinformation
informationfor
for
developing
developingsafe
safemethods.
methods.
ASSIGNING
ASSIGNINGPEOPLE
PEOPLETO
TOJOBS
JOBS:Whether
:Whetherthe
theman
manisisqualified
qualifiedtoto
do
do the
the jobs
jobs and
and whether
whether he
he understands
understands thoroughly
thoroughly the
the work
work
method
are
important
factor
in
safe
performance
method are important factor in safe performance
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY OF
OF SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR
(Contd..)
(Contd..)
GIVING
GIVING JOB
JOB INSTRUCTION
INSTRUCTION : : Job
Job instruction
instruction with
with necessary
necessary
emphasis
emphasison
onsafety
safetyaspects
aspectswill
willhelp
helptotoeliminate
eliminateaccident
accidentI.e.
I.e.lack
lack
ofofknowledge
knowledgeororskill.
skill.
MAINTAINING
MAINTAININGTHE
THEEQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENTAND
ANDWORK
WORKPLACE:
PLACE:
The
The supervisor
supervisor who
who keeps
keeps his
his department
department and
and equipment
equipment inin top
top
conditions
conditionshelps
helpstotoprevent
preventaccidents
accidentsas
aswell
wellas
asimprove
improveefficiency.
efficiency.
