Kevin Burns Blog

Are You Responsible For Your Own Safety?

Posted by Kevin Burns on Jun 9, 2014 4:25:00 PM

Every safety-whiner points the finger at the company to be responsible. Personal accountability goes missing when it’s whine-time on the safety job.

So, are you responsible for your own safety? It would seem elementary. But the safety whiners, the one’s who think that the whole idea of safety is just big pain in the ass, don’t get that. They expect that the company will supply them with their eye protection, hearing protection, gloves and will pony up cash for other parts of the required and mandated safety equipment. And just like a rental car, they treat the company-purchased safety protection in the same way.

Why Safety Leadership Rocks

Posted by Kevin Burns on May 14, 2014 7:35:00 PM

As a safety leader, more doors open, more options are available and the longer you are likely to live.

My recent Blog post, Safety Cop Or Safety Leader got a lot of traffic and created much discussion. Some safety professionals found themselves inadvertently standing on the wrong side of the conversation. But, as Dr. Phil says, you can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge.

How To Make Safety Meetings Lively

Posted by Kevin Burns on Apr 28, 2014 5:01:00 PM

Here are three things you can do right now to improve participation in safety meetings and make them lively.

You’ve sat at the back of the room at safety meetings, arms crossed, watching the clock on the wall, going over in your head the things you still had to do that day and waiting for the meeting to be over. You’ve even secretly hoped that no one had any questions so you could simply get out of the meeting and back to work.

How To Make Money From Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on Apr 16, 2014 8:05:00 PM

If you want to cut expenses, don't slash the safety budget. Get rid of injuries and incidents. That's where the real expenses are.

There used to be a time when safety was considered an expense (if you’re still thinking this way, it may be time for you to retire). The days of “we don’t have to the budget to spend on safety” are quickly coming to an end. Safety is not an expense - it’s an investment. And simply put, the better you get at safety, the better your company will do financially.

Drive-By Safety Meetings Must Stop

Posted by Kevin Burns on Apr 9, 2014 10:28:00 AM

Are you asking your safety meeting attendees to be participants or spectators?

Drive-by safety meetings are a waste of time and energy and should be considered an insult by meeting attendees. Those who have been forced to sit through drive-by safety meetings dread them and will find an excuse to get out of attending them. Those who bother to show up are likely the ones who couldn't find an excuse. But when they get there, they are not planning on remembering anything, writing anything down or being held to any sort of accountability standard to be able to recall the information later. In other words, meeting attendees are simply driving by.

Why You Need A New Safety Manager

Posted by Kevin Burns on Mar 4, 2014 7:23:00 PM

Safety managers and advisers must recognize that they are essentially game coaches - coaching to win in safety.

I’ve met some great middle managers in my day. I’ve also met some incredibly arrogant and self-centered ones too - holding the keys to their little silos and kingdoms. I’ve met empathetic senior managers and egotistical ones. I’ve met caring supervisors and tyrants. I’ve met General Managers who treat others as equals and GMs who wield their power like a Star Wars light saber.

Safety Managers Don't Need To Be Smart

Posted by Kevin Burns on Feb 24, 2014 1:42:00 PM

Employees don’t want your smartest person to run the safety program. They want the one with the best leadership skills.

Historically, Google has been the catalyst of many changes in how we view and access the knowledge of the world. But it was in 2009, in a study that Google did internally in an effort to develop better managers, that they made a finding that every single safety manager should be paying attention to.

4 Traits Of The Effective Safety Leader

Posted by Kevin Burns on Feb 18, 2014 2:18:00 PM

If you’re handling crisis after crisis, you’re not leading your safety program - it is leading you. You might be in charge, but you’re not in command.

You’ve seen it: construction material plastics and debris flying through the air in high winds or caught in the protective fencing because the garbage bin was overstuffed. A disorganized, garbage-strewn work site is indicative of two things; apathy of construction site management and a poor safety culture from workers. But question a site manager on why there’s so much garbage, and you’ll hear that there are other crises to deal with.

4 Lessons The Olympics Teach To Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on Feb 14, 2014 12:29:00 AM

To keep safety top-of-mind, appeal to employees like television networks do during the Olympics.

The Olympics are on. I find it difficult to get any work done during the Olympics because I’m an Olympics junkie. Once I’ve cleared off my desk for the day, it’s to the big chair, remote in hands to jump back and forth between the almost dozen channels that feature Olympic coverage.

How Dumb Workers Improve Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on Feb 6, 2014 12:20:00 AM

Just when you think you’ve sanitized your workplace, some joker finds something you overlooked in safety.

I travel all over North America speaking at safety meetings. I wander through a lot of airports, stay in a lot of hotels and eat in a lot of restaurants. I’ve gotten pretty good at traveling. It doesn’t bother me much. My favorite, though, is driving into the rural parts of this great continent.