Mindful tradies are safer tradies

Technical work comes with inherent risks. A mechanic, electrician, plumber, builder, or any technical tradie, faces the possibility of injury every day; and despite improvements in recent times, workplace accidents are all too common. 

While the reasons for various incidents can be near infinite, not paying due care and attention, or cutting corners, is at the root of the vast majority. 

Many companies have embarked upon a culture journey to instill personal responsibility and accountability in their employees. This can be very effective. Yet it takes a certain mindset and the willingness to make behavioural changes, which requires extra effort and brain power, on the part of the employee. 

Attuning the workforce to the job they are doing and the environment they are in is the obvious way to reduce workplace incidents. But this is easier said than done.

The current system many companies use is to have the employee produce a short written risk assessment before carrying out each job. This planning reduces incidents by raising employee awareness around the intricacies, and potential risks, of the task.

Yet I have seen many perfect risk assessments followed up with an urgent need for medical attention, and the comment I hear most often is “I lost concentration”, “I just didn't think”, or “I was rushing”. 

So clearly, planning can only do so much.

Employees can be told to concentrate, try hard to concentrate, and will often show increased focus for a little while after doing so. But the brain is like a muscle and the only way to improve its concentration span is through regular training.

This is where mindfulness comes in, harnessing that concentration, and allowing staff to access it whenever they need to. By definition, mindfulness is to be aware - of body, surroundings, feelings and external influences. It is a state of being switched on or tuned in, rather than in default mode or autopilot. This is a perfect fit for the moment to moment challenges faced every day in a technical environment.

The phrase ‘mindfulness practice’ conjures up spiritual or religious associations for some, but it doesn’t need to. The simple process of breathing, and noticing the influences around you without judgement, has been used in boardrooms and creative environments for the last 20 years. Most notably by companies such as Google, SAP and Ford. 

But why should this proven approach be limited to the C-suite or design studio? The technical team is so often the engine room of a business and its most precious commodity, so why wouldn’t investing in its brain power be a great business decision?

We know that safe work outcomes abound when the tradie is skilled, the job is planned and attention is being paid to the task at hand. Therefore mindfulness and present moment awareness can be a game changer, ensuring this all falls neatly into place. Skilled tradespeople in a state of flow, mindfully completing tasks are extremely unlikely to meet unfortunate outcomes.

While tradies are not generally known for their love of mindful practices - more often enjoying sport and a few beers as their way of winding down - there are most certainly ways to pique their interest in the workplace. The offer of a bonus short break in the working day is a great incentive to join a mindfulness group. And once there is initial interest, a wave of change can begin.

Think about your team and what stressors they have in common, then use those as a starting point for discussion. How can mindful practices support the reduction or elimination of those stressors? Once one or two people see a positive difference in their lives, more interest will surely follow. 

As well as safety, mindfulness brings gains in productivity, creative approaches and innovation. Beyond this, the positive personal effects on individuals leads to better social interaction and health outcomes. The potential benefits for workplaces are huge, and the cost of implementation is low.

Mindfulness is best brought to a workforce simply by providing non-compulsory access to it. This can be done via a group or a professionally rolled out program. Those with a personal curiosity could take a mindfulness infographic from Pinterest and put it up in the lunch room, or offer a group session using a guided meditation podcast. Monash University also has a great six-week online program that provides a great starting point for anyone brand new to the practice.

As an ex-tradie and more recently a manager of large teams of technical staff, I have seen great improvements in the self awareness and concentration of individuals once they have worked on noticing their own thoughts and emotions. As well as improvements in safety, this leads to better communication. As was the case with one 30 year industry veteran I managed, who for the first time ever chose to hold his team to account in an assertive but considered way, rather than simply complaining about their conduct. 

Giving people an awareness of their emotions, and the reasons for them, leads to solution-orientated thinking, and it is these mini breakthroughs which give rise to amazing personal and team outcomes. 

Links: Monash University Course, Pinterest Poster outlining the benefits of mindfulness