Kevin Burns Blog

When you tweak job performance in small chunks, little by little, safety performance improves. What do safety supervisors have in common with radio disc-jockeys? More than is obvious. Turn on the radio any time and listen to the radio announcers. Really study what they do. Radio is a cut-throat game that depends on ratings. Take a tumble in the ratings and a DJ can start looking for another job. To stay on top of the ratings requires constant monitoring and improvement. That means weekly airchecks. Airchecks are one-on-one meetings with the program director; the announcer’s supervisor. The supervisor “checks” the recordings from the announcer’s “on-air” performance. Hence the name... aircheck.

People-View is how you talk about your crew to other supervisors or even your buddies behind the crew members' backs. “Keep it simple and as short as possible. These guys don’t want a lot of information and they won’t remember most of it anyway. And don’t make it too complex or it’ll go right over their heads. And don’t give them too many breaks or they’ll take their time coming back. Some of them might even take off from the meeting. You can’t trust them. They’ll take a shortcut if they can find one.” Is that the people view for your crew? Is this how you talk about your crew to other supervisors or even your buddies behind the crew members' backs? Is that what you would say to an outside speaker or guest getting ready to address your people? People view is how you view people - specifically your people, your co-workers. People view is the predetermined opinions you have about either the people you work with or those you do business with. That includes job site contractors and subcontractors.

Instead of focusing on negative outcomes, re-frame communications to be more positive in safety. Safety, like any other message or idea, needs to be marketed to employees. Safety needs reminding. The more a safety message is repeated, the more employees become comfortable with the message. The overwhelming focus of safety marketing in past has been wrong. Scare tactics, sad stories and data charts do not provide inspiration or motivation to buy-in to safety. They create fear and accident avoidance. That's a short-term result that needs to be constantly fed and reinforced. Safety is focused on achieving compliance instead of developing an affinity with personal values. A cop at the side of the highway causes short-term compliance. Values alignment creates safety buy-in so that cops become unnecessary. Instead of focusing on negative outcomes, re-frame communications to be more positive in safety.

Front-line supervisors need to understand that perhaps the most important position in an organization is at the front line. Out-of-work safety supervisor numbers are growing - especially in the energy sector. Layoffs are plentiful and competition for what few jobs there are is fierce. What’s a supervisor to do? As hard as it is to not worry about how long the slump in oil is going to last, now is a perfect time to up your game. Taking the time to add to your skill-set shows character in the face of adversity. It also demonstrates your willingness to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. You demonstrate that you're willing to improve your performance when no one is paying you. Those are the traits of good leaders - not that of a nine-to-fiver. It shows your attitude and value. When things are busy and the work is plentiful, there is never enough time (or stamina) to add to the workload by updating skills or re-tooling. But when it’s slow and jobs are few, many people will be competing for the same jobs. Being a middle-of-the-pack performer won’t get you noticed or working anytime soon. You have to bring something to the table that no one else has. Now is the time to tool-up and get the skills that will set you apart from everyone else.

Anything that makes lives better, creates more success and more freedom is easy to sell. Safety, for it to be done effectively, needs to be viewed as a marketing strategy - not a compliance program. Forcing people to comply against their will creates a disconnect - a sense of disengagement. And, when people are no longer engaged in their work, it's safe to say that they are no longer engaged in safely doing the work. How you present safety will either help or hinder your people in deciding whether to buy-in to safety for themselves. The job of safety supervisors and managers is to remove the mental barriers of buying-in to safety. And to get employees to choose safety for themselves - both at work and at home. You know well enough that safety isn't just a thing that people do at work - at least not to be successful. Removing the mental obstacles creates opportunities for employees to buy-in to safety. Help them to embrace it as one of their personal values. People who cut the lawn in sandals, drive with broken tail lights and cracked windshields don't buy-in to safety. Those who speed and forget their seat belts don't buy-in to safety - even though they seemingly work safely. They tolerate safety rules. That's very different than buying-in and owning safety as a personal value. Look at it this way, you cannot buy that which is not for sale. So in order for there to be a buyer, there has to first be a seller. Don't be afraid of the idea of selling safety. It's easier than you think. Here are three things you need to know about helping others buy-in to your safety program:

To be respected and trusted will require you to become a safety leader. Safety people can hold various positions within an organization. All have varying degrees of supervisory, management and advisory responsibilities. Some administrate. Some manage. Some supervise. Some advise. Some hold senior management positions. And yet others, hope to one day hold one of these positions. So, what things can be done by any safety person in any safety position that would universally make them better at their jobs? Improve their personal skills. If all you really want to do is to enforce rules, then you will become a safety cop and your future job options will be very limited. But to be respected and trusted will require you to become a safety leader. You will need to hone your safety leadership skills. Here are four things you can do right now to be become a more effective safety leader:

Exceptional performance is always noticed. Exceptional front-line performance in safety comes from effective supervisors. Business gets better when the people IN the business get better. In other words, nothing improves until the people tasked with doing the work improve. In order for there to be an improved result requires an improved effort. At the front of the line is the effective supervisor. Effective supervisors create loyalty and a positive team attitude among employees. Knowing the rules of safety may be important. But that’s not enough if you want to improve the culture and performance. Effective supervisors understand that there is only safe production. Production is never separate from safety. Effective supervisors quickly rise above those who enforce only the rules. There are far too many people in safety pushing rules, processes and procedures. There are too few who have the skills to help employees perform better in safety. Anyone can be a safety cop. Not many have the skills to be an effective supervisor.

To build a successful, strong and supportive safety culture requires a foundation of employee buy-in. Safety has, traditionally, set itself up based on the compliance model of checks and balances. It is then presented to employees as paperwork and meetings. Then the focus gets placed on reporting and tracking. It’s difficult to get employees to buy-in to a program of checks, forms and paperwork. Employees can't see what's in it for them. As a result, buy-in to safety is marginal. Companies re-brand and re-launch consumer products in an effort to be relevant again. Laundry detergent, new models of car, the latest iPhone. They're "new and improved." These companies give their old products a new spin with new improvements. And they make sales. To build a successful safety culture requires a foundation of employee buy-in. Without it, you will spend large amounts of money and never achieve great success. But like any consumer product, before it can be bought, there has to be a benefit to the consumer. They have got to see how this product makes their life better. When they find it, that's when they buy-in.

Safety management is a paid position. Safety leadership is voluntary - yet infinitely more rewarding. It’s time to take stock of where you are in your safety career and to find ways to tweak, adjust and fine-tune your performance. There is, in this post, already an assumption that you’re up to date on legislation, rules and procedures. If you’re missing that part, you can add those items to this list. But I don’t want to discuss your knowledge of safety. I want to help make you a better safety leader.

Zero is more than a measurement. It is a philosophy. Zero has become a divisive term. There are those who believe in Zero and there are those who believe that Zero cannot be sustained. Speak out loud your belief in Zero and you open yourself to attack from those who believe that Zero cannot sustain - and vice versa. Both sides look at Zero as a result. But Zero is more than a measurement. It is a philosophy. If you truly believe in safety, you ultimately believe in Zero. “Safety Second” doesn’t roll off the tongue as a strong corporate value. “Be almost safe” doesn’t inspire anyone to take safety seriously. But how often do you see organizations celebrating “almost safety?” Industry-average safety performance does not inspire anyone to embrace safety as a personal value. Acceptable risk is not acceptable. Companies preach Zero Harm. But do they really mean it?