Kevin Burns Blog

3 Ways To Outsmart Safety Inspectors

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

A team focused on winning a championship will outplay the team focused on avoiding penalties. I received an email this week from a safety adviser whose company has the right safety systems in place. Company management is strong and committed and there is a concentrated presence on the company’s job sites. But, the Occupational Health & Safety inspectors still find infractions? The question was: what is it that the inspectors are seeing and why can’t the company see it first?

Why Safety Managers Cling To The Rules

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

Being in a position of authority doesn’t automatically make you a leader. Your safety management positon doesn't automatically elevate you. Managers, who have no self-confidence about their abilities, cling to the rules. The reason for that is simple: the rules are always on your side and when you stick to the rules, you will always be right. That's why safety meetings cling to the rules, the statistics and the reports; they are irrefutable. They are proof. They are results. By clinging to the rules and statistics, there is no room for employees to challenge the person delivering them.

5 Conversations That Have Nothing And Everything To Do With Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

Improve the individuals and the organization as a whole gets better. Improve personal skills and the collective safety culture improves. Safety meetings, should solve problems and make the organization better. They are not meant to bore, to disengage or to frustrate. But they do. Meetings don’t have to entertain. But there is nothing wrong with entertaining employees and making work fun, even safety. Fun meetings engage employees and increase uptake.

9 Reasons You Can't Be A Leader Without A Commitment To Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

Safety is a commitment to your people that their contribution matters and is worth protecting. Safety managers complain that they have difficulty in getting safety buy-in from senior management. Senior management seems more prepared to roll the dice on safety by under-funding the safety program. Executives understand profit and loss. But maybe they’ve never had safety explained in a way they understand. Maybe the pitch has been all wrong.

5 Things Employees Want From Safety Meetings

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

You need to get down to what matters in safety meetings: talking WITH your people - not AT them. Safety is about preparedness - yet the safety meeting does not meet that standard. All too often, safety meetings get thrown together at the last minute. This does not inspire confidence from employees.

The 3 Key Ingredients To Get Respect As A Safety Manager

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

The high-performance, respected safety managers of tomorrow must improve in three key areas today. Safety managers, safety supervisors, safety officers, safety advisers, safety personnel, foremen, crew chiefs, human resources personnel - it doesn’t matter the title. If you have a hand in managing the company safety program, you are a safety manager (one who manages).

5 Truths Safety Managers Aren't Stressing To Young Workers

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

Young workers don’t know what they don’t know about safety. If they’re worth hiring, they’re worth protecting. I had a conversation with a young worker this week and was astounded how he was unaware of his rights, duties and obligations to safety. His admitted risky safety behaviors on the job made me cringe - not to mention his girlfriend who sat next to him.

3 Effective Tips To Speak Up In Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

Safety is too important to be paralyzed by a fear of being judged by your co-workers. “According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” ― Jerry Seinfeld

How To Increase Accountability In Safety

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

It is impossible to create accountability in safety without getting every employee to make it a part of their job. Safety managers and front-line supervisors want employees to be more active and vocal about safety. They want employees to be more engaged in the decisions that the employees make and the results they get. They want more active participation in reporting, in actively talking about safety and a much higher involvement in being vocal at safety meetings.

A Coffee Break To Becoming A More Effective Safety Leader

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 1, 2024

Small, incremental improvements to the safety program are not as noticeable and do not expose employees to undue stress. Every job has its ups and downs. Employees can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of responsibility and workload. Then add in paperwork, Job Hazard Assessments, new OH&S guidelines, new reporting as part of the corporate re-focus on safety and you have a workforce that can feel stressed. Responsibility can be demanding. But taking a coffee break of fifteen minutes per day to self-improve can reduce stress and feelings of being overwhelmed.

Leadership for frontline industrial supervisors.

3 Ways To Outsmart Safety Inspectors

Why Safety Managers Cling To The Rules

5 Conversations That Have Nothing And Everything To Do With Safety

9 Reasons You Can't Be A Leader Without A Commitment To Safety

5 Things Employees Want From Safety Meetings

The 3 Key Ingredients To Get Respect As A Safety Manager

5 Truths Safety Managers Aren't Stressing To Young Workers

3 Effective Tips To Speak Up In Safety

How To Increase Accountability In Safety

A Coffee Break To Becoming A More Effective Safety Leader

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