For many organizations, safety programs launch at the start of the fiscal year and then lose steam as other priorities emerge. Mid-year presents a strategic moment to reconnect leadership support, reset momentum, and align safety initiatives with business goals. Leadership buy-in is more than a signature it’s the foundation that drives resource allocation, cultural endorsement, and measured outcomes.

Research shows that authentic leadership behaviors such as relational transparency, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective are positively correlated with stronger safety climate in the workplace (Walker & Kuchinka, 2024). Without visible commitment from senior management, safety efforts risk being sidelined or perceived as peripheral. A purposeful mid-year review communicates to leaders that safety is integral to operational success not a side project.

Safety professionals must frame initiatives in the language of executives productivity improvement, cost reduction, regulatory compliance, and workforce stability. A recent practitioner survey found that 97 % of safety professionals rated senior-leader buy-in as “very important or extremely important” for program success (Lipinski et al., 2025). When safety is positioned alongside performance metrics and when leaders help shape the initiative from its early stages buy-in shifts from passive endorsement to active ownership.

Mid-year safety initiatives gain traction when they align with current business performance reviews, risk registers, and leadership objectives. Rather than presenting a fully formed plan, inviting executives into the initiative’s development creates collaboration, shared accountability, and higher likelihood of sustained support. In the words of industry commentary, safety programs succeed when strategic, tactical and symbolic actions are balanced and visible (Balsamo & Luchtman, 2024). A well-timed safety initiative can become a strategic lever reinforcing culture, improving safety outcomes, and making measurable contributions to business continuity.

At Key Safety LLC we support clients in crafting mid-year safety initiative proposals that demonstrate value, generate leadership engagement, and deliver measurable outcomes. Our services include contextual business-case development, executive-briefing support, and facilitation of leadership involvement to ensure safety is embedded in organizational strategy. Aligning safety initiatives with business imperatives unlocks resource commitment, drives measurable impact, and sustains momentum for the remainder of the year.

References

Lipinski, S., Wheeler, W., & Wheeler, K. (2025, February 14). The Roadmap to Gaining Senior Leader Buy-In for Safety Initiatives. Incident Prevention. https://incident-prevention.com/blog/the-roadmap-to-gaining-senior-leader-buy-in-for-safety-initiatives/

Balsamo, J., & Luchtman, F. (2024, September 22). Safety Leadership: Leading change: How to make initiatives stick.Safety+Health Magazine. https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/25974-safety-leadership-leading-change-how-to-make-initiatives-stick

Walker, S., & Kuchinka, D. (2024, May 29). Do authentic leadership behaviors improve workplace safety outcomes?American Society of Safety Professionals. https://www.assp.org/news-and-articles/do-authentic-leadership-behaviors-improve-workplace-safety-outcomes/