It all starts by gaining the trust of location managers and employees
We all want everyone to be safe. No one wakes up in the morning and decides to get injured on the job, and safety managers all have their employees go through training to keep them safe.
Despite all the precautions we take, why do we still have injuries? You find an employee pencil-whipping maintenance reports. Steps are skipped on tasks because operators feel they are unnecessary. Operators talk about dangerous work as routine work.
The problem is that your safety culture isn’t as great as you think. However great you think you are, there is always room for improvement, but it’s not easy.
Have you ever worked for a company whose upper management focused on making the company safer for their employees, but there was a disconnect between the two? When the supervisors are watching, everything runs right, but everything flies out the window when they walk away.
On the flip side, have you ever worked for a company whose employees want to do what is right but believe management cares more about production than safety? The result is employees stop caring about safety, because management has done so.
Gaining Trust
As a safety manager, I have found that a truly healthy safety culture focuses on treating management and employees separately. It doesn’t spend time on just one or the other. It addresses both on their respective levels. It strives for management that cares, because they believe in the goal and have a true passion.
Here are some practical methods I have used during my journey toward a healthy safety culture that might be helpful.
The journey begins with the safety manager gaining the trust of management and employees, which can be a significant investment of time.
As a safety manager, I have found that a truly healthy safety culture focuses on treating management and employees separately.
Most location managers will be nervous, if a safety manager starts speaking with their employees. They fear higher management will find out that they aren’t perfect. You need to gain common ground. Convey to them that you are all after the same goal.
As a safety manager, your location managers must come to learn that you always have their backs. You must make the internal decision to support them. You can support them even if they make mistakes.
You must get dirty. Pick up a shovel when you see a pile. Join in on the sweeping every now and then. Show up on a Saturday when they are working and help. You will get to see a rare glimpse of processes not viewed from an office. Not only does this gain trust, but it also gives insight on what is working and what isn’t.
S.P.A.R.K.
The best safety cultures are conversational. Safety is more effective when you hold conversations with both management and employees on their tasks and how to perform them safely.
It’s not easy, and not everyone wants to share. You must get your team to talk about what they do, how they do it, why they do it, and what the company should not do. You must create opportunities to spark conversations. I created an acronym to be purposeful with my conversations – S.P.A.R.K. stands for sharing purpose, awareness, and relevant knowledge.
Sharing purpose. As safety leaders, it’s easy to get so busy explaining the “what we do” that we forget to explain the “why.” Without explaining the why, employees always will find the easier way, the shortcuts. When we share the purpose behind our directives or describe the hazards to avoid, employees will be more likely to take ownership in the process. They also will encourage their teammates to do so.
Sharing awareness. Assumption is the tool of fools. Not everyone understands what could happen. It is a safety manager’s responsibility to share the hazards and how they can be mitigated. Sharing awareness of why we do things a certain way places importance on doing the task the right way.
When we share the purpose behind our directives or describe the hazards to avoid, employees will be more likely to take ownership in the process. They also will encourage their teammates to do so.
Sharing relevant knowledge. This is an important step for safety managers. You want employees to share what they think, what they know, and what bothers them.
Ask questions like: “How can we do this better?” “Why is this important?” Or my favorite that I stole from safety expert Joe Mlynek, “What scares you the most in your job?”
Once you get your employees talking, don’t stifle them. Sometimes it takes a minute. Don’t fear the silence. Let it sink in, and let them think about their answers. You won’t always get good answers, but sometimes you’ll get pure gold.
Drive action from these conversations and from what you learned. Take what they say to develop action items.
What topics need training or retraining? If you find the team doesn’t understand the purpose, then you must retrain them on the why.
What needs to change? Your training method may need to change. For example, more hands-on or work application during your training. You may have to start over. But know this. The worst thing you can do is take their trust and conversations and do nothing with them. They believe in you to lead.
Dean Alling is director of safety and special projects for Attebury Grain, LLC, Amarillo, TX (dalling@atteburygrain.com/720-328-7011).