How Portable Are Your Safety Efforts?

Be safe. Drive safely. We care. Safety is a value. Too often, these are pointless, empty statements. We should always start with making workplace conditions, machinery and processes safe before focusing on the behaviors of employees. Everything we do in this regard, while critical, remains at the jobsite at the end of the work day. What tactics do the employees retain to ensure they return injury-free the following day?

In many countries, employees are more likely to become injured off the job than on. Not only is it prudent to enable employees to make safe choices when they are away from our employ, it is vital for business continuity, as an employee seriously injured at home is just as absent. Safety efforts must be portable and have tremendously more meaning than most slogans and reminders.

Drive Safely!

Several years ago I was working with a client south of Newark, New Jersey. When heading down the NJ Turnpike, you could see a chemical tank farm on the right that held a large painted community reminder stating "Drive Safely!" I appreciated the intent of the message, but what does driving safely mean? If you have had children at driving age, when learning how to drive, did you place them behind the vehicle and set them off with a well-wish to drive safely? Probably not; but this is precisely what we often do at work: "Be safe today!"

For young drivers, we try to provide safe vehicles, and we provide individual instruction into what driving safely looks and feels like. We provide feedback when they are acting this way and when they are not. We are coaching for performance whether we realize it or not. We need to provide a safe environment for our workers, and we need to coach (providing a balance of consequences for if they act this way and if they don't) for specific safety performance as well. This is a leadership responsibility.

It's Not Enough to Care About Safety

I have no doubt you care about the people you employ, oversee, or are responsible for. In fact, I'm sure you remind them on a regular basis to be safe, perhaps even stating precisely this (be safe). We at ProAct Safety define safety as: 1.) Knowing the risks, 2.) Knowing what precautions to take to control the risks, and 3.) Regularly taking these precautions. At home, do all your employees know the most likely risks, know what precisely they need to do to control those risks and regularly do what is needed?

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Shawn M. Galloway is the President and COO of ProAct Safety. He writes (and tweets:@safetyculture) about his consulting work leading organizations across all major industries to achieve and sustain excellence in their performance and culture. His articles, books, blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here:https://proactsafety.com/insights