Channelling the motivations behind health and safety

What’s my why??Everything we do ensures the safety of our people?and the public?

Harnessing the power of what motivates our people to make health and safety a priority is a challenge many organisations grapple with. Addressing this challenge was at the heart of the successful ‘What’s My Why?’ initiative at Dialog Fitzroy.

When DIALOG Fitzroy Tower Services found out they were finalists for an award at this year’s Transpower STAR (Safety, Thanks, and Recognition) Awards, David, AKA Daiz, Ridland, DIALOG Fitzroy Tower Services Project Manager told his team that they had made it to “the Oscars of the tower world”.??

They came away from the STAR Awards with the Supreme Award, which for the first time was shared, between DIALOG Fitzroy for its ‘What’s My Why?’ initiative and Craig Moore from Ventia.?They also picked up the Hauora Wellbeing Initiative award.

Transpower’s STAR Awards are held every two years to recognise and celebrate champions of health, safety, and wellbeing best practice across New Zealand’s electricity transmission industry.??

DIALOG Fitzroy's ‘What’s My Why?’ (WMW) initiative was introduced in 2019 with the aim of helping its people recognise and be motivated by their personal values and those of the organisation to be healthy and safe at work. Since inception, this initiative has successfully promoted positive behaviours in health and safety, physical and mental wellbeing, pride, and identity.?

Change needed ??

Born out of a review of the company’s health and safety events, it had become clear that employees were jaded by a rules-focused approach and a sense of being told what to do. A disconnect had formed between the organisation and its employees of the purpose of being healthy and safe at work. The why.??

“Analysis of our health and safety incidents clearly showed that there were some real challenges to address when it came to employees' behaviours and decision making. We wanted to support our people to make better decisions at work and we wanted to get our people thinking differently about health and safety,” Liz Newson DIALOG Fitzroy Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality Manager explained. ?

Demonstrating leadership ?

A turning point for DIALOG Fitzroy was an initiative where managers engaged with staff about their personal why to be safe and healthy at work. The why for most was clear; to return home safe to whānau (family) at the end of each working day.?

“People started to realise that being healthy and safe at work was essential to their success as a person and to our success as a company. That everyone had a role to play in ensuring we all get home safe and well at the end of our shift,” Liz explained.??

What’s My Why is both a question to remind people about their reason for staying safe and healthy at work, but also the WHY serves to focus action:

-????????? Working together towards wellness,

-????????? Helping each other achieve goals, and

-????????? You are the key to our success.? ?

The WHY cards ?

WHY cards were a complementary initiative to shift the organisation to a proactive hazard identification focus, addressing and resolving issues before they cause harm. The WHY cards can be completed by anyone (including visitors). Every WHY card is reviewed by the Health, Safety and Environment team and provided to managers. Insights from across the organisation are shared and identified changes, are communicated across the organisation.??

Let’s get physical ?

‘Warm up for Work’ is part of the ‘What’s My Why’ initiative, which has teams engaged in physical work, start the day by getting the blood pumping and their bodies moving. “Getting our bodies moving releases muscle tension, improves circulation and just generally makes you feel alive. We’ve found that starting the day like this gets everyone ‘switched on’ and ready for work. It’s fair to say that in the beginning there was some hesitancy – but now it’s just how we start our workday,” Daiz said.??

… and emotional What’s My Why has also been a useful tool to help those who have emotional and physical challenges. reflecting that everyone needs to be well in the fullest sense. If people are experiencing personal challenges which affect their emotional wellbeing, then it simply isn’t safe to for them to be working in a physically harmful situation.??

“Our industry is male dominated. We know that men often find it hard to talk about feelings. It’s just a simple fact that you need a healthy body and a healthy mind to do the work we do. It’s a foundation for a strong safety culture when you have confidence that everyone is looking out for each other. We are committed to building a culture of Kotahitanga that emulates those values toward health and safety. We recognise that our whānau play a big part in our ability to come to work each day and focus on the dangerous and challenging mahi we do.

“Our whānau is our “WHY’ and our work mates are like our second family. This is something which we know resonates for our team. With over 50 percent of our team identifying as Māori we also are mindful of our connection to the land and especially our maunga Mount Taranaki and the significance it plays in our sense of identity and mana for our people.

The power of recognising success?

Winning the Supreme STAR Award has meant a lot to the team at DIALOG Fitzroy. “It’s been great to have the recognition from Transpower for our mahi and the difference that it’s making”, said Daiz.

“There’s been lots of change and that’s certainly been a bit rough, so winning this award, being recognised in front of the industry, has been great for team morale. It was also awesome having our teams’ partners come along to the event to thank them for their support and contribution.

“Of course, the greatest reward has been the change that has happened internally with the total integration of the importance of health and safety across our organisation and within our people. This then influences positive behaviours and outcomes in our whanau and the communities we are connected to, it’s kind of infectious.

“Winning the Supreme Award was the crown on what had been a lot of work.

“We know that what we’re doing at DIALOG Fitzroy is working, but embedding health and safety within our organisation and with our people will be ongoing. It’s a journey rather than a destination,” Daiz said.??We are all tremendously proud of our achievements and celebrating our success is important. To be considered as a leader and a champion is deeply motivating and rewarding.

DIALOG Fitzroy is an established Taranaki based engineering company with over 65 years under its belt. The business diversified into transmission tower work 10 years ago.?

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