So many times safety professionals find themselves pushing a rock uphill. Management brings them in because they acknowledge there are safety issues that need to be addressed; however, they seem to ignore or block any initiative brought up by the same professional they hired. It can frustrate the best of us! Are they intentionally trying to sabotage you? Probably not. Do they just not care? Unlikely. So what gives?
Too many times we fail to understand and consider the company's motivational level when we talk about safety. As it relates to safety, every company goes through three motivational stages:
1. Financial Responsibility Stage - Generally small and/or start-up companies that don't have the financial or organizational resources to go beyond basic compliance. Although the executives and owners DO care and DO understand that the bare minimum is just that; they simply can't go above and beyond at this time.
Strategy:
Build a solid program that meets all the needed safety initiatives, policies and rules to prevent injuries. Focus on worker training and best practices that take little to no money to implement (e.g.: employee of the month parking space, gift card or simply a photo on the wall or newsletter). Manage injuries aggressively and help the company build a good reputation for safety that leads to increased profits. Tie safety and quality to profits (especially the loss of) to gain some leverage. Focus on task specific training and break it into sections that can be taught in the field instead of scheduling time away from production.
Stay away from:
At this stage, the company is not able to engage in "best practices" or "world class safety" efforts. Don't assume that management doesn't care, they just don't have the financial, personnel or time resources to dedicate exclusively to safety.
2. Moral Responsibility Stage - At this point the organization has developed a solid reputation and their efforts are starting to pay off. Projects are more complex and yield better revenues leading to improvements in safety equipment and training. Executives are now better equipped to "do the right thing" or look at the moral aspect of safety. An important factor here is that leadership and workers have been together for a while now and know each other, including family members. Finance continues to be important, as it should; however, decisions are not made solely on this factor.
Strategy:
This is the best time to start introducing more formal recognition, mentoring behavioral and human performance initiatives. Review and update your programs to address any new or changing scopes of work. Develop a safety committee to involve the workforce and management in conversation. Build a sense of ownership in workers by engaging them in safety decisions, especially those involving PPE and tools they will be using.
Stay away from:
It's tempting at this time to go overboard with introducing initiatives, seek out the newest gear and equipment and look for every training opportunity. Don't fall into this. Continue to evaluate the value the return on investment for each and every initiative and using this to present them to management.
3. Social Responsibility Stage - At this stage, a company is pushing the boundaries and setting benchmarks for their industry. Management understands there is a need to positively affect the communities in which they work, including the workforce that comes from those communities. Companies invest time, resources and money into their communities and are more open to sharing lessons learned with others in their industry.
Strategy:
Work on engaging the workforce into the safety programs in a way that extends beyond the company. Explain how injuries at home affect the worker's ability to work. Continue to develop the sense of ownership by educating workers on how their decisions affect the company's ability to maintain their status and recognition and, in turn the ability to provide continued employment, bonuses, incentives, etc. Talk to management about bringing safety to community initiatives in which the company is involved. Focus the conversation on your leading indicators and celebrate the wins. Use your lagging indicators to benchmark and justify your requests for funding, equipment, training and other needs.
Stay away from:
Again, I can't stress this enough; don't assume that the company success means you can go all willy-nilly on expenditures just because there's cool stuff out there. Improve your equipment and supplies as needed. Coordinate training times and dates to have the least impact on production. If you do need to spend, continue to focus on the ROI.
Most companies can be found in one of these stages. Understanding where your company's focus is is extremely important to help you frame your conversations in a way that can be effective and productive. Regardless of stage, finances are always an important and critical aspect of all organizations. To be effective, safety professionals must understand this and avoid falling into the trap of "they just don'r care" mentality.
What are your thoughts and experiences? Leave me a comment below.
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