We just don't trust you!
Bob Cummins
Helping people who influence, improve performance through the application of behavioural science.
You don't have to look far for examples of the mistrust that fuels the 'them and us' culture in construction.
"But we meant well", doesn't cut it anymore. We should take responsibility for crap we have come up with, apologise, stop it and move on.
Here's an example -
The green light on the back of small dumpers, like the one above or externally positioned on a range of other plant, that flashes when the operator plugs in the seat-belt.
Purpose - to tell us (everyone else other than the driver) that the seat-belt is engaged. I'm hoping at this point you see the irony.
You could argue that as a driver of a dumper, if I see Matt over there and his light is flashing, I then go, "ok, well, if Matt is wearing his belt, I'll wear mine too." But that's not what happens.
The green light was put on so that 'us' could see if 'them' were complying from a distance. "Look, Matt is driving his dumper and the green light isn't flashing, that wee bugger must not be wearing his seatbelt again."
But Matt is clever, he knows you have put that green light on there becasue you don't trust him. After all, if you were really helping him, you'd have invented something that reminded him to put on his seatbelt, you know, like those helpful car manufactures did! So Matt feels a bit annoyed by this lack of trust and decides, as a protest to circumvent the technology, fasten the seatbelt and sit on it. Ha! there ya go, I'll show you!
Ok, so that's not everyone, I'd imagine that a lot of operators have just given up and accepted that they aren't trusted to work safely and begrudgingly comply. Dogged into safe working instead of actively looking after themselves becasue they feel valued and respected.
All just a bit sad really.
Contracts Manager at INDIGO FORECOURTS LTD
5 年H&S is behavioural. Some people just don’t get that it is for their benefit.
Owner at Pressure Teknix. Cold Water Booster Pump & Pressurisation Unit Specialists. R.P.Z Valve Testing.
5 年Trackers on service engineers vans and cars are another one. Nothing says we don't trust you like a tracker. They don't measure whether the job is being done or even done properly. I've met many people over the years that'll park their van up on site, sign in and go and find a cafe somewhere. I've had a few tell me they've been accused of skiving when they've been stuck in traffic only because their employer has seen that the van is not in the right place and has been stationary for a while.
QHSE Manager, Major Projects
5 年I like the theme of this post. We work in a lot of international places in Freyssient, tricky places, with no regulations or CSCS cards, but we can still make it work. Our procedures don’t mention regulations (because we work in so many different places, ‘principles’ are more practical), our induction doesn’t mention ‘the law’ and our in-house training modules don’t really either. Interestingly when we work in UK, USA, Australia, for example, the training courses we send people on usually start with a bit of legal fear...regulation XYZ...statutory duty of care...potential fines. I find it sets a tone which is essentially counter to the alleged spirit of ‘care’. It subliminally says to your trainees that if all these regulations didn’t exist then you probably wouldn’t be on this course. Finding a genuine ‘I want to help you keep safe’ perspective should be at the heart of many more transactions if we’re to tackle this problem. Agreed ?? Cheers for the article Bob!