Brute Force Doesn't Change Safety Values

Just because they wear safety gear doesn't mean they will choose safety in every moment.

brute force doesn't build safety buy-in

Do not confuse an employee's willingness to abide by safety rules as proof that they accept safety as a personal value. Just because they have never had an incident doesn't mean they choose to buy-in to safety.

In treacherous, icy winter driving conditions, a driver whose vehicle windows, side mirrors and tail lights were completely obscured by snow flew through a yellow light. The driver, a construction worker, emerged from his vehicle in full PPE prepared for a full day of working safely. He purposely chose to drive unsafely to get to his job to abide by safety rules and procedures. He purposely chose to not make his vehicle safe to himself and other drivers while, at the same time, wearing his safety gear.

Safety managers need to understand that just because their employees dress in safety gear, it doesn't mean that they buy-in to safety.

Employees in PPE are simply tolerating the rules as a condition of keeping their job. That should not be an assurance that in an emergency situation, they would always choose safety - just because they are in compliance with their safety gear.

Safety managers, however, are inclined to confuse lack of incidents (due to abiding by safety rules) as proof that their people buy-in to safety. Just because they wear their PPE willingly and abide by the rules doesn't mean that they own safety as a personal value (which is the definition of buying-in).

The guy who speeds to work, rolling through stop signs in a vehicle with burned out brake lights and who goes home at the end of the day to cut the lawn wearing flip-flops, even though he followed safety rules at work, doesn't "buy-in" to safety. He tolerates rules. You don't just want a guy on a job site that blindly follows rules - you want people to own safety for themselves and each other.

Safety managers, officers and coordinators complain that they are viewed as glorified watchmen or security guards. But if you are only enforcing rules, how else should employees perceive you? If you're not taking the time to engage employees one-on-one in honest conversations in an effort to appeal to them at a personal level - outside of full-staff safety meetings - then they see you the same way they see a cop at the side of a highway. You are enforcing the "law" in your workplace.

Safety isn't about HOW they work safely - it's about WHY they work safely.

Safety is so much more than JHAs, near-miss reporting, MSDS and orientations. Your safety certification means that you passed the required course materials and have a very good grasp on how to instruct in safety. But it doesn't mean that you have the communication skills necessary to reach a worker deep inside to turn on their safety-values switch.

Just because you educate them in safety doesn't mean they will choose safety in every situation. Education alone doesn't change values. Education combined with experience, coaching, exposure to new ideas and decisions and an assessment of corresponding results together change values - at which point they buy-in to safety for themselves. They then become the leaders in safety helping safety managers improve the safety culture.

Brute force doesn't change values. A threat of punishment or termination for safety violations doesn't change values. It simply forces people to tolerate rules. You only have to drive on the highway to see the steady parade of people tapping their brakes to indicate that the police are up ahead. People slow down to the speed limit when in front of the cop and then speed up again once they have passed. People choose outside of safety daily - your people. The threat of punishment for non-compliance makes people comply for a short time and then they return to breaking the rules once they believe that no one is watching anymore.

If you want your people to respect the work you do and to stop viewing you as a glorified safety cop, then stop giving them a reason to do it. Stop simply enforcing the law. Stop punishing and threatening them into compliance and start communicating to them personally. Appeal to their desire to live a long and happy life with their families. Be a human. Make them human. Treat them as humans. Make safety personal - more than just a collection of rules to be enforced.

Not every employee has the same values on safety, not every employee acts the same, performs the same, communicates the same or responds the same. Safety does not work with blanket approaches. Watch this video to find out more.

photo credit: lonelysandwich via photopin cc

Topics: safety speaker, safety buy-in, selling safety