Here are three compelling arguments for choosing safety. Call it the “Diesel Strategy” because it is powerful and goes a long distance.
The safety department complains that it’s difficult to get workers to buy-in to safety. Employees resist buying-in to a program of checks, forms and paperwork.
Safety meetings, rewards, recognition and paperwork are important. Indeed. Each plays a role in the safety culture-building plan. But to build a successful culture requires a foundation of employee buy-in. Without it, you will be feeding the monster (spending large amounts of money) and never achieve success.
To change that, go to Leadership 101; basic values-based conversations with employees. Coach employees to see that their own long-term goals and the company’s long-term goals are the same. The values are the same. Then, show them how safety is the tool that gets them from where they are (in the present) to where they want to be (in the future).
Here are three compelling arguments for choosing safety. Call it the “Diesel Strategy” (DSL). Diesel, because it is powerful and goes a long distance:
DDesire. The Desire list is the “want” list in the present-day. This is where you find short-term gratification. It could be a new car, new house, big-screen TV, man-cave, pro-sports season tickets, etc. Seeing something in a store and having the cash to pay for it immediately is gratifying. But it requires cash. The ability to pay for the kids’ university, wedding and maybe their first home requires cash. To take a long vacation or to buy a motor-home takes cash. Impulse buying and emergency spending in the present day takes cash. The ability to pay cash without the burden of debt requires continuous cash-flow. Desire is the continuous-cash-flow part of life. Without continuous-cash-flow, life is expensive and options limited. Taking unnecessary risks jeopardizes continuous-cash-flow. Doing risky things off-shift is even more consequential. There's no way to claim insurance or WCB. When you’re not working, cash-flow stops dead. Choosing safety assures that the cash-flow will continue - and life is good.
SSecurity. This is different than being able to buy stuff in the moment. Security is the long-term investment and future part of living. This is where you set your family up and remove worries in the future. This is where you plan for retirement, and set up reserves for the long-term. This is also where you know that you will never burden your spouse and kids. They will never have to struggle to make ends meet. They will always have access to skills and tools and education. They will never have to downsize or live in fear of facing large loans. Choosing safety keeps you working so that you can plan for the future of your family. Safety connects directly to security. Knowing that you are set up to weather a major financial storm gives you peace of mind. Think about it, people forced to live with money and health pressures aren’t happy. Choose safety to reduce stress. Choose safety to provide long-term security for your family.
LLegacy. This is your lasting memory; how you want to be remembered. Legacy is also the contribution that you make to the world. In twenty years, do you want to be giving a leadership speech about how safety made you a success? Or do you want to be the person who delivers a “how I lost my limb - don’t do what I did” speech? Leader or accident-survivor? The legacy is yours. How your life turns out is the result of the choices you make each day. A life of being incapacitated is a mental and physical burden to your loved ones. Selfless people don't burden others with their mistakes. Courtesy is the cornerstone of lasting relationships. Courtesy exits when high-stress issues show up. When you’re not overwhelmed by stress, building a legacy is easy. The longer you are alive and healthy, the bigger your legacy gets.
Safety is sold as a compliance program of paperwork, rules and procedures. But safety is the vehicle that connects you to your long-term goals. The one thing that will connect continuous-cash-flow, long-term investments and legacy, is safety. Without safety, everything is at risk. Without choosing safety, by default, you allow chance to dictate your life results.
You up the odds and increase certainty when you choose safety. In every moment of every day, you have a choice to make, a leadership decision: safely or unsafely? Buy-in. There is so little risk and so much reward.
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