How do you handle a team member who ignores safety protocols?

Mining typically involves a number of high risk activities which makes compliance to established safety measures paramount to attaining Zero Harm. Where protocols are ignored, establishing the root cause becomes key, more often its one of these; knowledge gap, at risk behavior or devised standards not fit-for-purpose. Knowledge gap can be addressed by relevant training, at-risk behavior campaigns, employee profiling as well as varied awareness programs. On the other hand, oftentimes there’s huge mismatch between ''practice'' and ''procedure'' and it is critical to not have these contradicting. Procedural review of documents, SOPs, IBRAs, HIRAs etc must be conducted involving the key personnel who do the actual work to make them relevant.

Start by investigating the underlying reasons why workers do not comply with safety rules. Ask them for their opinions on this matter. Be sure that they will help you a lot in eliminating your shortcomings. For this reason, always look for problems in yourself and the system first, not in the employees. It is possible to win the employee over with your empathy and relationship management!

A great way to begin is by having a conversation to determine what the issue is from the worker’s perspective. When the issue has been identified and understood, then a solution can be found. It is never helpful to go into these conversations with a preconceived idea of what the issue may be. Working with someone to reach a solution is always preferable to implementing a solution without a thorough understanding of the issue.

En la identificación primaria de las causas está la administración de la empresa, que tanto los niveles jerárquico propician un ambiente seguro de trabajo, no solo dando las directivas o controlando las acciones del personal, si no también con predicar con el ejemplo.

En este punto es importante analizar que tan claro estamos comunicando a toda la organización, como también el resto de los trabajadores contribuyen con sus pares a tener conductas seguras en el trabajo. Sin lugar a duda la comunicación tiene que ser empatica, clara y sobre todo indicando las consecuencias que pueda tener para el trabajador como para el resto del equipo las conductas inseguras.

As an HSE, you must be able to explain the risks and hazards when not using PPE. Briefly explain the indirect losses, which actually have a more detrimental effect on personnel and the company

Plan ahed conduct a toolbox talk and topic, one on one meeting. Identify and discuss the issue by clear and accurate communication. Make a answer and question portion to know that everyone cooperate and understand. Be realistic and focus on main safety agenda.

Initiate a conversation with the team member, emphasizing the significance of safety protocols for everyone's well-being. Clearly articulate the potential consequences of non-compliance and express your expectations for adherence to ensure a safe working environment.

Emphasize the necessity of clear communication regarding safety expectations and violations. Detail how to effectively convey the seriousness of the issue to the team member, using precise examples of the misconduct and the possible consequences.

Personal opinion, THIS is step 1! For safety protocols, expectations should be set from day 1. Creating a safety culture means we express the importance from the beginning. Offering positive reinforcement shows the team(s) that you see them and their efforts to follow policy. Don't wait until you see something wrong to check for understanding. In the same respect as they are currently described, I would then say -#2 communicate clearly - #3 identify the problem

More often than not, not following safety protocols is a result of lack of knowledge. Violations in the form of human error are most uncommon, with root causes often being linked to organisational factors such as supervision, poor procedures etc. The phrase I like best is educate and inform; only when people understand why they have to do something, will they be more Inclined to follow and also, more informed to educate their colleagues. Make it personal and relatable for the most engagement and acknowledgement - tell stories and build relationships. It’s all about trust and transparency, what’s 3 minutes of your day getting to know someone in order to promote their safety?

Be supportive in coaching or mentoring individual specially in workplace. Adequate supervision and feel everyone that they are important. Be polite and kind in giving a feedback to avoid to hurt the feeling. Educate and tell them that you are open to be ask and answer the question.

Feedback needs to be articulate and constructive in nature, not demoralizing. Offer the opportunity for all interested parties to voice their views by becoming a good listener. Spend time at all levels of business, shop floor to C-suite to build Meaningful and trust worthy relationships

Providing constant feedback to your team members is very critical to ensure that they know how their doing. This create a safety culture amongst the organization and the team. Also the mentor is then able to identify the gaps and then close them through either on going training and just mentoring.

Too often, I’ve seen safety used as a tool to discipline employees. Is the employee trying to achieve a personal goal or reach an operational goal? If we believe our employees are trying to do the best they can, with what they have, and what they know at time, in the environment we created for them (production pressures, equipment failures, etc..) then we owe it to them to dig deeper and learn from some of their mistakes. Performance issues, insubordination, lying, stealing time, aggressive violent or criminal behavior, absenteeism, are some of the few examples of personal goals that need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and they have nothing to do with safety. Those call for managerial courage but that’s a whole other discussion.

Esta opción debe ser como última alternativa y una vez que se asegure que cuenta con todo el conocimiento de los estándares y prácticas seguras de trabajo, para asegurarnos de que hemos cumplido con nuestras obligaciones de informar todos los riesgos y medidas de control para evitar o reducir sus consecuencias.

As well as implementing consequences, it is essential that everyone knows and understands how the process works. Without transparency it can seem a bit like a "Gotcha" culture and that can be destructive and lessen the intent of the process overall. In my experience, having a clear consequence matrix is useful in explaining why the outcomes are as they are but it is also important to have both aggravating and mitigating factors to support management decision making processes. More importantly, ensure that these are followed through upon in a timely, effective, and consistent manner - nothing worse than inconsistency to derail a process or belief in fairness.

Ignoring or violating safety rules will have the following actions: 1. There will be a coaching opportunity, either by HSE or the employee’s supervisor. There will be a written documentation of the event. Documentation is critical, it provides proof of the event. Also the employee may be removed from their work station. If it is a safety sensitive, high risk area or work procedure, invoking a stop work procedure may be advised to address the seriousness of the violation. 2. The employee must understand that in the U.S. in the event the employee is injured and misses work due to violating, disregarding safe work rules, failure to wear appropriate personal protective, etc. Workers Compensation Insurance benefits may be reduced or denied.

Give people a day off without pay. When they come back observe them as they follow safety protocols a couple times. Document the observations.

In one of the companies I worked with in the past, they had a very simple rule - if you choose to not abide by the safety principles, then you choose not to work for the company. It's simple, effective and direct and that is the key to ensuring that safety is not optional. It's not something one can avoid if nobody is watching and nobody is above the protocols laid down to save lives and ensure everyone goes home safely. Raising this awareness and ensuring everyone is on the same page, involves engaging wide and deep within the organisation. It is also important that thenlangaugae and tonality of the messages are understood as that can be a challenge, specially in a country where food habits change every 100 kms.

I found disciplinary actions to have a negative effect. I steered away from this, and gave those those whom had less regard for safety, a safety project to complete. This had a more positive conclusion, where these individuals became true safety ambassadors, completely changing their prospective on safety, encouraging others, and creating a snow ball effect.

Engage other team members in promoting a safety-conscious culture. Encourage them to share experiences, participate in safety discussions, and collectively reinforce adherence to protocols. Peer influence can be effective in fostering a safer work environment.

Department managers or their supervisor are the best person to involve when addressing on such situations: ?For a monitoring as they are in constant contact; ?The safety officer should focus on continuous improvement evaluating the progress with the member; ?If possible a self analysis and self score on the safety protocols should be made to the member.

In high risk work, induction sets the safety rules and any breach needs to be instant and impactful. Going through a 3 strikes process means putting lives at risk. Depending on the severity of the breach, instant dismissal may be the only way to keep the person involved and others safe. All incidents, near misses and hazards should be risk assessed to determine the appropriate response to establish a safe work place and safe work practices.

This is probably one of the most Important, if not most important step you can take as an organization to evaluate your health and safety system and its strengths and weaknesses. An investigation is not complete until you can draw root causes from an incident and implement or update controls or preventative steps to prevent re-occurrence!! Often times, this is what I observe to be the missing step in incident investigations.

The recurrence can be prevented by: ?Introducing a self-analysis to the member; ?Introducing score 0-10 pattern so that they can criticise themself without anyone blaming; An example to use: I a safety survey on safety protocols. Discuss with the members on both the outcome as well as the exact scope of the survey.

Ao adotar o ciclo PDCA nas revis?es periódicas, a organiza??o n?o apenas fortalece seus protocolos de seguran?a, mas também estabelece um processo sistemático de melhoria contínua. Isso cria uma cultura organizacional que valoriza a adapta??o constante e o aprimoramento, garantindo que as práticas de seguran?a permane?am eficazes diante das evolu??es no ambiente empresarial.

When team members overlook safety procedures, it’s critical to understand the underlying factors contributing to these behaviors. By focusing on systemic improvements and learning from incidents, we can address the root causes, rather than merely treating the symptoms. This approach encourages a collective responsibility towards safety, where every team member plays a crucial role in identifying potential hazards and implementing solutions. This way, preventing recurrence isn’t just about avoiding the same incident; it’s about elevating our overall safety standards and ensuring that safety is ingrained in every decision and action.

To ensure that the team member is adhering to safety procedures, follow up with them on a frequent basis. When you see progress, acknowledge it with praise and comments, and take swift action to resolve any roadblocks.

Address the issue directly and communicate the importance of following safety protocols for everyone's well-being. Offer additional training if needed and emphasize the impact on the team's collective safety. Post such communication, hold the team member directly accountable for actions and enforce penalty

When handling team members who ignore safety procedures, consider the broader context of their actions. It's essential to identify if there are communication barriers or misunderstandings about the procedures. Sometimes, non-compliance stems from a lack of awareness rather than willful disregard. Ensure safety messages are clear, accessible, and reiterated regularly. Additionally, assess if there are systemic issues, such as inadequate training or resources, that hinder compliance. Creating an environment where feedback is encouraged and valued can also uncover insights into why procedures are ignored, allowing for a more tailored and effective approach to fostering a culture of safety.

While everyone is unique and every situation is different the most important strategy to address these situations is curiosity. Seeking to understand the why increases your chance to influence and create positive change. Listen to people’s opinions and beliefs allows you to engage in dialogue that can shift perceptions.

Effective ‘visible’ and ‘felt’ Leadership coupled with demonstrating appropriate behaviours will get an organisations Safety Culture to where it wants to be

The WHY safety protocols are ignored is just as important as WHO is ignoring them. Progressive discipline is a necessary part of every OHS program but, because we live and work in such diverse environments, regardless of industry, we must first respect workers' varied safety perceptions, disciplining only if necessary AFTER investigating. Getting to know worker(s) and their job/tasks/experience allows the opportunity to talk (using an interpreter if needed) about what safety means to them so walls can be broken down. Respectfully guiding workers to understand their safety responsibilities helps them succeed safely, personally, professionally AND can lay the foundation for another company safety ally. Ultimately, isn't that the point?