subject: Sure Safety is About Behavior, But How Do I Change Behavior? [print this page] Sure Safety is About Behavior, But How Do I Change Behavior?
Only after my first injury review, did the light go on. You know, when you have one of those epiphanies, when you suddenly get it. Sometimes it's something that everyone seemed to already know. For me the epiphany occurred at our annual review of all the injuries and near misses in our company. I had always thought that our manufacturing and assembly jobs, because they involved machines and physical labor, would always have injuries, for lots of reasons.
Let's just say I overlooked the obvious. The cause of injuries turns out to be one thing, almost exclusively: Behavior. More specifically, Careless Behavior, although Unsafe Behavior is a close second. The question isn't what the reason is; the only question that matters is what can you do about it? How do you influence employees not to be careless?
Think Attitude
Most employees receive enough safety training on-site, and know how to do their jobs safely. A company's safety record has more to do with the employees' attitude towards safety than their actual safety training. There is no doubt that a company with high morale, where the employees take safety very seriously, will have fewer injuries and claims than a company where the employees' attitude towards safety is more casual.
What Affects Attitude?
For people with physically challenging jobs and working for hourly wages, most of the time attitude boils down to this basic question: Does the company care about me, and the other people who work here, or are we just filling a position and easily replaceable? With few exceptions, the better job a company does at conveying the message to its employees that it really cares about them- and their personal safety- the better the morale and attitude will be.
What better way to drive home the importance of safety than by providing an incentive for doing the right thing? An incentive to "not be careless". An incentive to take the time to do their jobs safely.
A well designed safety incentive program shows appreciation and establishes safety as a positive value in the company. Everyone wins: fewer injuries, better morale, and lower costs.
