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As health and safety has evolved over the past 30 years, both as a regulatory issue and a professional discipline, business has made enormous strides in safeguarding workers. But as technology and management systems have matured, it has become clear that the highest levels of safety and health are reached with an organisational culture that empowers and inspires employees to actively care about safety and wellbeing.

“Truly exceptional safety requires that people don't just follow procedures, but that they are empowered to speak up when issues arise, so they can be corrected and lessons learnt," says Andy. “And to make that happen, we, as leaders, need to be champions of the safety-centric mindset and create a psychologically safe environment.”

Bapco Refining, a subsidiary of Bapco Energies, the integrated energy company leading the energy transition in the Kingdom of Bahrain, is investing in developing its leaders to build a culture of mutual respect, transparency and excellence. 

The Company’s goal is to maintain a safe and reliable operation in which its employees and contractors, representing more than 32 nationalities, go home safely to their families at the end of each day. Supporting leaders to help create such a culture starts with a set of defined leadership values upheld by the most senior leaders as an example to everyone else in the organisation.

Bapco Energies has introduced five core leadership principles, which ask leaders to be Brave, Ambitious, Progressive, Conscious and Open. These principles have their roots in the leadership practices based on decades of research and codified by Barry Posner and James M Kouzes (The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®). They are intended to promote authenticity, encouraging leaders to be open and approachable and to promote psychological safety by their example. Removing the fear of blame or psychological barriers for employees to speak up when they are not comfortable or when they see something they believe needs to be fixed is essential to ensuring they participate fully in keeping the workplace safe.

Andy adds: “Psychological safety has the potential to really ‘level up’ an organisation’s performance. Dr Amy Edmondson’s research discovered that teams with better outcomes admit more mistakes; they can learn, share ideas and make better decisions as a result. This concept is universally applicable across all business functions, but it is particularly crucial in occupational health and safety, where preserving human life and health is paramount. To do this, we must give our leaders the underpinning training and tools to create this type of culture.”

Line management, particularly, is a refractive layer that can either enhance or dull efforts to create a positive organisational culture, and, at Bapco Refining, training is seen as a critical component for its leaders. Around 2,442 employees attended more than 190 sessions in 2024 and 46 sessions as of May 2025 organized by Training and Development Department. The emphasis on authentic leadership and the five principles starts with induction for anyone with management responsibilities. Managers attend workshops and webinars on the Bapco Energies leadership principles and other facets of visible leadership. It has also established training courses to help develop leaders to be their authentic selves and inspire others through their behaviour.

Training also supports leaders in developing emotional intelligence, fostering empathy, and enhancing safety through better communication. Line managers are trained in mental health awareness and serve as mental health champions, with around 600 staff across Bapco Energies set to receive mental health first aid qualifications. External thought leaders also contribute insights on psychological safety, while graduates explore diversity, inclusion, and team management.

To increase visibility, leaders regularly attend workplace events and maintain open-door availability. The company’s “no name, no blame” safety policy has evolved into “Be brave,” aligning with its leadership principles and encouraging open reporting of unsafe conditions.

Leadership accountability is reinforced through evidence-based assessments, where leaders demonstrate how they model the five principles and promote psychological safety. The Training and Development team conducts thorough post-course evaluations to measure impact. Results are evident: an employee engagement survey showed strong agreement that leaders communicate effectively, provide quality development opportunities, and prioritise health and safety.

Andy continues: “Bapco Refining has an extensive suite of leadership support that reflects the impact and value leaders can have, and just how committed the organisation is to developing its safety culture. This transcends to operational safety, too – if we have created a psychologically safe culture where workers can speak up about safety issues, we must also give them the knowledge and skills to be able to work with confidence. NEBOSH is proud to have partnered with Bapco Refining on the development of its training courses and, so far, six have received NEBOSH Endorsed certification on topics including authorised gas testing, authorised gas testing refresher, harness safety, hazard recognition & control, working at height and confined space awareness.”

Leaders who foster trust, respect, and mutual responsibility to create nurturing, positive organisational cultures enable the best safety records and the highest-performing organisations. Bapco Refining is among the organisations equipping its leaders and workers to embed and sustain such a culture.

As organisations like Bapco Refining lead the way in embedding authentic leadership, NEBOSH continues to support global industries in translating safety values into everyday behaviours, ensuring that leadership is not only visible but visionary.

Andy Shenstone, NEBOSH Chief Executive, and Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery, Acting Managing Director Bapco Energies and CEO, Bapco Refining.

Further learning and information
You can join NEBOSH at online webinars and in-person events throughout the year, where we share knowledge and expertise on leadership, psychological safety and other key health and safety issues. We also offer a suite of qualifications to help empower workers, and a one-day qualification for senior business leaders to help them become better advocates of health and safety – the NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Health and Safety Leadership Excellence.

If, like Bapco Refining, your organisation wants NEBOSH to endorse your in-house training, you can find more information about the NEBOSH Endorsed service here.