"Why" Safety?

In many ways, safety gets lost in the shuffling pages of the policies and procedures meant to keep workers safe. We have all been told that these policies are basically written in the blood of those who were injured or killed, but is that what safety really all about? The policies and procedures? Isn't there more to the effort of keeping workers safe than just quoting policies? Yes, the goal is to keep workers safe throughout the day, but what is the goal of the worker? What is a worker's purpose with regard to safety? Isn't there more for the worker than just having policies to follow?

In the real world, many workers are caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is the difficulty of completing a job, on time, under budget, uninjured, and the hard place is the policies and procedures that slow them down. In many cases, policies can create a level of difficulty in performing the job that invites workers to skirt the fringes of danger. Having spent all of my career in the industrial setting, I have seen this up close. I have taken those chances.

The more difficult a policy is to follow, the easier it is for someone to decide that the risk is worth taking. On the other hand, the easier a policy is to follow, workers will be more apt to refrain from taking those risks. Of course, this thought does not cut across the board as there are some workers that will not follow any policies meant to keep them safe.

So, is safety about the policies or the people? If it's about the policies then all will be guilty of not following them because no one really knows all of the policies written at their company or by MSHA or OSHA or any other regulatory agency. That would be an impossible task. Policies do help provide the necessary guidelines for worker safety. Policies do make an effort to keep incidents from reoccurring to reduce worker injuries, fatalities, and equipment damage. Policies do provide accountability for the company and its employees. With all that policies do for the worker, they do not offer him or her why they should work safely. If workers do not know why they should be safe, they certainly won't buy into how they should be safe.

Safety must be about the worker. If it is about the worker, then the why becomes more important than the how. If the why is more important than the how then how do we keep workers safe? There are several thoughts that come to mind:

1. Value: Workers need to feel valued by their employer. Workers need to believe that they have more value than the work they are doing. Workers need to believe that they have more value than the equipment they are operating or repairing. Workers need to believe that they are more than just a replaceable commodity. Without true value being imparted into the worker, companies will not get the value of work that they are investing in.
2. Appreciation: Workers are paid to do a good job that provides results. Otherwise, they won't keep their job for very long. Companies invest a lot of money in training employees to be knowledgeable, skilled workers. As workers improve, there is one more investment for companies to make and that is in showing appreciation for the work being done. Workers that are appreciated will return appreciation and invest back into the company. They will share cost-saving ideas, process improvement ideas, or even safety improvement ideas. Appreciated workers will also give back to the company in ways of personal investment. (Note: it's not always about making money)
3. Personal safety isn't for anyone else: Explaining why a worker should work safely should never be about how it will affect others (at least not upfront). An employee should have an understanding of how not working safely affects them directly. This could be done with the testimonies of others injured while doing similar jobs but so many workers still believe, "This couldn't happen to me." Injuries typically don't happen because of someone else's decision, but they do happen. When a worker makes the decision to perform a task without PPE it's their decision. Their family didn't make it for them. Their co-workers didn't make it for them (although peer pressure can influence some of these decisions). Personal safety is personal. Once a worker understands this, they are headed in the right direction.
4. Safety is NOT a priority: For many years, Safety 1st has been the mantra. Safety should never be our first priority because priorities always change. Priorities change as the needs change. An example I typically use: Let's say that your child/grandchild has a ball game at 5:30 PM this afternoon. Your typical workday is 8: AM to 4:30 PM. If all goes well, you will have just enough time to swing by the house to change clothes and make the game. Your supervisor comes to you at 3:30 and says that you need to work over. The first thing that most would do is get angry, which will begin to shift your priorities. In order to make some of the game, you will begin to take short cuts to finish the job in less time than normal. You finish the job in enough time to skip stopping at your house but still have to take risks to get to the game. Many individuals don't make the game because of the sum total of the risks. Here is what I tell workers, "Your child/grandchild will understand that you missed that game but they will never understand why you will not make another game." If safety is a core value, it will be number one. It will be at the very center of everything we do and the foundation of how we work.
5. Creating a culture of safety: What is culture? Culture isn't established by one person, but rather, a group of people desiring the same thing. It could be a national culture, a state culture, or a community culture. In any of these cases, the culture helps to identify who the group is, what the group is about, and why the people of the group want to be identified within that group. The same can be said for a company's safety culture. Safety culture is born when the individuals are rallying around their common convictions regarding personal safety. Safety culture may start from the top but it could never take hold without employees feeling valued or appreciated. Once the culture shifts, then safety goes beyond being personal and starts becoming an investment into the lives of their co-workers.
6. The difficulty of maintaining a strong safety culture: A strong safety culture is difficult to maintain. One decision from the top can cause workers to question management's real motives and how much it cares for the employees. On the other hand, one decision from a field-level employee can be a source of frustration for management as well. All levels must strive to maintain their personal convictions regarding safety and not let others influence them into making bad or hasty decisions about their personal safety. In order to maintain personal integrity toward safety, everyone must block out all the noise and make safety their core value.

If workers understand why they need to work safely, they will be more likely to follow how to work safely. The policies that are put into practice are a roadmap to getting home every day, but getting home is why we need to follow the map.