Kevin Burns Blog

Here are 11 differences between a safety cop and a safety leader. See where you fit. In my safety keynote presentations, I explain the differences between safety and OH&S; leadership and management; service and customer service. Safety, leadership and service are all attitudes. OH&S is a program, management is a position and customer service is a department.

Cops enforce the rules. Coaches work on technique and inspire a burning desire to win. Which of these three was your last safety meeting about: the rules, technique or a desire to win?

Can you convince someone to buy-in to safety without management being on-board? Of course you can. It’s not impossible. It’s just harder. I have deep convictions for safety. It doesn’t matter to me what others think about my safety values. I will do what I want as long as it keeps me and those around me safe. I have been scolded and chastised to just relax when it comes to safety. I turn a deaf ear to that suggestion. I drink the Kool-Aid. I have bought in. And honestly, my convictions for safety don’t change based on whom I work with. Some companies hire me to consult about improving their safety meetings. Others hire me to speak on personal leadership in safety. My values on safety stay the same.

In the workplace, safety is fast-becoming the new leadership. I say it in my keynote speaking presentations: leadership has nothing to do with management. Safety leadership, therefore, has nothing to do with safety management. You don’t have to be in management to be a leader. Leadership is not a position. It is an attitude - management is the position. One has nothing to do with the other. Safety too is an attitude. It is a state of mind and a way of living your life. Safety is the result. Safely is the choice in every moment of every day. Those with a safety leadership attitude, will choose to do the job safely in every moment. Companies are waking up to the fact that people who blindly follow orders on a job site still get hurt. But safety leaders who choose safety in every moment save themselves from harm by the choices they make. In the workplace, safety is fast-becoming the new leadership.

Organizations say they want to build a culture of safety and then, what they do about it, is a contradiction. I had the pleasure of speaking at a safety meeting last week that broke the mold of boring safety meetings. They organized a quarterly safety event which replaced their monthly safety meetings. According to the safety manager who organized the event, my book, The Perfect Safety Meeting, played a big part in their new attitude toward safety meetings.

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.

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.

Safety attitude doesn’t come from compliance. Safety attitude comes from aligning the safety program with a worker's personal values. After delivering a safety keynote presentation, I spotted a driver in treacherous, icy winter driving conditions fly through a yellow light with vehicle windows, side mirrors and tail lights completely obscured by snow. Upon parking, the driver, a construction worker, emerged from his vehicle in full PPE prepared for a full day of working safely.

Safety is not a discussion of logic. People don’t choose to be unsafe logically. They do it illogically. I got my start as a professional speaker very early on. I entered radio when I was fourteen years old; my father owned a small-town radio station. Some refer to radio as the media. But radio is only a part of media as is television, newspaper, bus benches, billboards, Yellow Pages and on the list goes.

Any safety meeting, large or small, must start with two basic purposes: to get your employees’ attention and their participation. My newest book (in e-Book format), The Perfect Safety Meeting, is being downloaded around the world. Since safety never seems to get a big budget for learning and development, I made the e-Book free.