The Safety Problem

Go talk to any company in heavy industry and they'll tell you their #1 priority is safety. This is wonderful. I can't tell you how glad I am to see the focus shift toward people over product. I'd like to believe the emphasis on safety comes from a good place in the hearts of senior executives that cares about people, and I choose to do so. Product sales generate the money, but ultimately, if a job cannot be done safely, it's not worth doing. It's great. Why, then, is there an aura of ineptitude surrounding much of the work that goes into making production safer?

This is something I've been trying to wrap my brain around for quite some time, and with a little bit of experimentation, I found an answer that, at the very least, works for me. For me, it boils down to just two issues - relevance and concern.

Any person will agree they prefer to go home at the end of the workday unhurt. All the safety professionals in the world have this as their goal, too. However, it seems that, so often, so much of that intent is lost in the delivery of irrelevant information. Consider the audience. Most managers are spending the majority of their time in meetings and behind a desk. Low-risk stuff. The injuries I see largely happen among people in the field doing the work - operators, mechanics, equipment operators, electricians, builders. Safety initiatives have everyone's wellbeing in mind, but at heart, they're all about the laborer. Yet these are so often the exact people who feel so misunderstood and overlooked. It's not because there's not enough information getting to them - it's because the wrong information getting to them OR because the right information is getting to them in the wrong way. Consider the following real-life example:

Following a 12 hour night shift, a group of chemical plant operators was mandated to stay over an additional two hours while the incoming shift reported for safety training. The part of the training that was relevant to the operators could have been covered in 15 minutes. Nevertheless, they were reminded it was required by law that they review all the information presented.

What goes through the mind of individuals in a circumstance such as this? Is the night crew excited about the two hours of overtime? Is the incoming crew relieved to finally know which government regulations are behind the site's safety requirements? Does the night crew feel like their wellbeing is in mind? Most likely, the answer to all of these questions is "No". Law often does require certain safety topics to be presented to certain audiences, but in a case like this, the operator is probably left wondering why his real-time, right-now safety was traded for a two hour presentation that does not help him do his job more safely. A better way to present this information could have been to give the relevant part to the supervisors to present in person and then deliver the remainder via CBT. No overtime. No rolling/heavy eyes. No wondering, "Why are we here?" This is only one example, but stuff like this happens all the time.

Does an operator who never will touch a crane need to spend time reviewing a safety incident involving a crane? Does a mechanic who is not permitted to even open a breaker box need to have his job stopped to go over a recent electrician's injury? When we do this kind of stuff, safety loses buy-in in a big way. Keep it relevant.

The other issue, which is so closely tied to relevance, is concern. In order for people to change their behavior to be more safe (which is so often the real safety issue), they need to feel like the person pushing the change genuinely cares about them. This takes time, because a relationship has to be formed, but it is crucial. As much as we're invested in our own safety, we always tolerate some level of risk to get the job done quicker or "better". Normally, people don't change their own level of risk tolerance. You can change someone's behavior to be safer, though, if you can convince them you're being genuine. This is so important for supervisors to understand. I've seen a few do it masterfully, but most of us still have a lot of work to do.

Achieving safer behavior is something I get really excited about. Please let me know if you want to know what I've done with my teams to make work safer.