Stop discussing the negatives of not being safe. Instead, focus on the positives of buying-in to safety.
The words “Make Safety Sexy” might conjure up the image in the photo for some. But that’s not at all what the phrase means.
Leadership for frontline industrial supervisors.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Aug 26, 2013 10:56:00 PM
The words “Make Safety Sexy” might conjure up the image in the photo for some. But that’s not at all what the phrase means.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Aug 12, 2013 9:10:00 PM
Corporate Culture is the glue that holds your organization together - how you do things, how you hire, how you even handle meetings. Safety Culture is the way your people do safety. But as I wrote in an earlier Blog post, the Unspoken Code of peers is one of the largest contributors to Culture. Companies who attempt to shift Culture without taking into account The Code, run a real risk.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Aug 5, 2013 5:12:00 PM
You may have fallen under the impression that safety incentives, paying your people (in either cash or prizes) to achieve Zero, may actually work. Well let me say right here that safety incentives do not work - ever.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jul 31, 2013 6:09:00 PM
Turn on the specialty TV channels like The Food Network and Home and Garden TV and you will see a steady parade of experts hosting renovation or restaurant-turnaround fix-it shows. In every one of these programs are several common denominators:
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jul 24, 2013 12:36:00 PM
It started on a conference call with my client's Safety Day organizing committee. They had chosen me to be the closing keynote safety speaker for a series of safety meetings. We spent a considerable amount of time preparing for the event, reviewing and discussing the pages of responses to my pre-event questionnaire. It was during the discussions that one of the committee members made an off-handed comment that may just prove to be a great tool to get employees to buy-in to safety.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jul 15, 2013 3:02:00 PM
You don't find personal values on a résumé. The résumé is a lousy tool for finding engaged workers with a set of personal values that buy-in to safety. A résumé doesn't give you that information. It only tells others what a worker was allowed to do in their last job - not what they were good at, not what they stand for and certainly not what makes their bum hum (excites them and drives high motivation).
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jul 11, 2013 2:35:00 PM
Safety is not something you do or manage; it is the result of five things done right. Unfortunately, the focus for achieving Zero has historically been solely on the OH&S part. But it is only one-fifth, or twenty percent, of what needs to be addressed.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jul 3, 2013 4:50:00 PM
Safety managers and safety supervisors complain that their employees won't buy-in to safety. They also complain about employees' lack of engagement and a lack of accountability in the safety program.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jun 25, 2013 2:13:00 PM
Safety incidents are on the rise. Workers are getting hurt because of decisions they make. Oh, sure, safety managers try to reduce the numbers of incidents through compliance but compliance alone doesn't work. If it did, every workplace would already be at Zero and stay there all of the time. So, more compliance is obviously not the answer.
Posted by Kevin Burns on Jun 19, 2013 4:48:00 PM
We don't buy-in to a financial plan because of what we might lose. We don't buy-in to a healthy lifestyle because of what we might lose. We don't buy-in to personal development because of what we might lose. We don't buy-in to going to university because of what we might lose. But safety is focused on reminding workers of what they might lose if they don't comply - instead of showing people how safety buy-in makes life better.
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