Kevin Burns Blog

At a mining camp in Canada's Arctic, a team of big city consultants was dispatched to determine the effectiveness of the safety messages throughout the mine site. The walls at the mine were plastered with so many mixed messages that the employees nicknamed them "the wallpaper." Too much noise, too many competing thoughts. 

First, let's admit it—generic messages like "Safety first" or "Be safe" don't cut it. They become a punchline, undermining the real priority. And in the end, the mission gets lost in "the wallpaper."

Safety buy-in happens when you engage your people, simplify the communications, figure out the prime objective, and get supervisors on board. When you have safety buy-in, do you think you will need safety speakers anymore?

Episode 6 of the Safety Buy-in video series tackles company priorities and why you may be having a hard time getting buy-in to your safety program by adding safety as one of your priorities.

When selling your team on the benefits of safety, you must remember this one key element that is more likely to create buy-in than any compelling argument you may have for safety. Watch the video.

What happens when the word "safety" becomes a barrier to safety buy-in? It is happening with increasing frequency in all sectors and industries. And it's probably happening in your company too.

No other department in your organization is focused on negative reinforcement to try to improve performance. How did this happen in safety and why has it lasted so long?

If you've been frustrated by failed attempts to get buy-in to safety (something more than just basic minimum compliance), you are going to have to look at your engagement levels first.

Welcome to a new series of Safety Buy-in videos to help you clarify your safety message, build supervisor support, and get employee buy-in. This week we focus on complacency and adopting a mindset that complacency is a result you get when you don’t engage your people in a meaningful way.

Business development is the focus of most companies. Getting more customers, making more sales, upselling existing clients. Companies hone and adjust their marketing messages to attract more revenues. When more clients buy from us, there is cause for celebration.

Everybody cares about something. And they do care about it … in their own way. The challenge in getting your people to care about safety lies largely with how they understand and interpret the word safety.