Just Say "No" to Safety Flexing

It's everywhere, and we can't ignore it! Learn more about Safety Flexing in my latest blog post. #SafetyFlexing

Just Say "No" to Safety Flexing (perfcp.com)

As concerns about Covid wane, my colleagues and I have become concerned about an emerging risk.?We’ve seen it in safety leadership classes from Norway to Brazil, and we have come to call it “Safety Flexing.”?

Just for a bit of context, one of the things I do is co-facilitate a three-day safety leadership course for oil rig crews.?Day one is just for leaders and focuses on safety leadership.?On days two and three they get a chance to practice their new skills when their crews join us.?

So, what exactly is “Safety Flexing?”?Normally when we say that someone is “Flexing” we are saying that they are showing off.?“Safety Flexing” refers to the use of outrageously over-engineered safety practices (that would otherwise never be consider) in order to impress observers.?It often sounds something like:

?????????“Let’s all check to see that our shoelaces are securely tied before we do this activity, and let’s have two people support us as we squat down!”

When I hear someone Safety Flexing in class, I call a time out and ask three questions:

1????Would you ever consider doing that in the real world??

?(Sad face emoji) No.

?2????What will your crew think if they see you Safety Flexing during class tomorrow???

They will see what we are doing, and just play along.

3.?What are the implications of that thinking?

If they won’t be talking about tools they would actually use in the real world, then nothing will change back on the rig.?The three days spent away from their families will have been wasted.?

Worse still, they could walk out of class even more confused about safety tools.?If the critical tools we talk about in class are just for show, which of the others safety tools fall into that same category???Maybe it really is all about production and the safety only matters when it is convenient.????

Safety Flexing undermines the basic premise that safety is about caring for people.?All of the policies, procedures, PPE, equipment, rules, tools and guardrails are just things we use because we care about people.?

When leaders Safety Flex; put on a show, check boxes, and go through the motions to cover their “assets,” their crew members know it, and their level of safety engagement will soon match. ?Fortunately, the opposite is also true.?Leaders that use safety tools because they genuinely care about people are rewarded with safe and efficient operations.?

Former Alcoa Aluminum CEO Paul O’Neil used this simple idea as his strategy to turn around the then struggling aluminum maker.?He said that “We need to care about people, and in order to convince people that we actually care about them, we are going to have to actually care about them.?There is no substitute for authentic safety leadership.?Just say no to Safety Flexing!