In my June 29th presentation at the American Society of Safety Engineers 2016 Professional Development Conference, I discussed the fact that one of the best ways for the safety professional attending the talk to help to improve the safety performance in their workplaces was to show the people that they cared about them and to enable them to make decisions about their specific work. I want to elaborate on these ideas in this newsletter. This is not just for the safety professional. This is for every team leader, supervisor, and workgroup leader. Going into your workplaces and opening up the conversations is a journey; each time you do this it gets easier and more effective. (Caring, Understanding and Openness!)
Meaningful caring to me means that we treat each other with respect as adults.
- As managers and supervisors we get out of our offices and go into the workplace.
- Help people to see that it is okay to talk together and be open with each other.
- We sit down together in their work place and have a cup of coffee together. We are not in a hurry just trying to make some specified number of contacts.
- We share the truth together as best we can knowing that today’s truth may be different than the truth for tomorrow because the world keeps changing, and reminding them that you’ll be back tomorrow if things have changed.
- We ask about how we each are doing. How is the day going? What good things are happening? What have we learned today or over the last few days? We listen to what we each are saying.
- We try to build on each other’s good ideas.
- We talk about how the business is doing? We talk about the contributions we are making to the success of the business.
- We discuss problems together sharing our viewpoints and seeking possible solutions. If people ask you questions which you can’t answer, tell them you do not know and will get back to them…then do it. We pay attention to the dynamics and do not over stay our visit.
As we get to know each other better we begin to explore what is really going on around here.
- Are we really doing what we say we want to be doing?
- How can our communications get clearer and better?
- What is the rumor mill saying? Talk together about the rumors and clear them up.
- Do you see better ways to go after the problems around here than we are doing? What are we missing?
- Are there hidden elephants we need to be addressing?
- When we have made a mistake, we own up to it and say we are sorry. We ask for their help.
- Are there better ways that you see to get your job done well?
- What information do you need to get your work done more effectively? Let’s talk some more about your good ideas and see if you can make some improvements.
- What is going on over and over that is really bugging you?
As you get to know the people even better, there will be opportunities to inquire about how the family is doing. You can ask…how the kids are doing in their sports and schoolwork, ask if there are things that you can be doing to help them, ask how everyone’s health is, etc. You need to use good judgment as you get into these personal conversations and not push things too far into their privacy, by accident.
These are the kinds of conversations that most of us would like to have with our own managers. How many times have you wanted to talk together with them to share an idea or problem and have not had a chance to do it? How often do you get to talk with your boss’s boss? What is important and good for you in talking with your boss is about the same as for you talking with the people in your organization about the things that are important to them.
We are all partners in making our workplaces to become healthier, physically and mentally, and helping the people in them to be the best they can be. This is a key element of Partner-Centered Safety!
Eighty (80) pages and counting…that’s how far I got while perusing the numerous pages for the 2015 fatalities logged on OSHA reports – there were still many names and circumstances yet to read.
Hardly any of us can do our best work all by ourselves.
In our Partner-Centered Safety realm, we go beyond this to having everyone (the people on the floor, the supervisors, the managers, and all the others) feel they are cared about. Caring means helping each other, listening to each other, sharing information, being respectful, asking for help and receiving it, looking out for each other, saying we are sorry when we make a mistake, and treating each other as whole persons. Just what caring means for people is something on which they should all agree. Management, alone, should not do it for their approach can often be quite patronizing – treating the people in the work place as if they are children. All the people, at all levels, together, need to come up with their ideas about what caring is for them. Management should not try to dictate the answers, but management needs to open up and lead this discussion about caring or it will not be addressed. Caring is visible; as is non-caring. Partner-Centered Safety is visible caring. Mistreatment of people is non-caring.
At one of the highest geographical points in Florida, at Lake Wales, is a large, 205-ft high, carillon tower. It is beautiful, as are the gardens surrounding this tower structure, made of glistening coquina stone. The tower and gardens were a gift from benefactor Edward W. Bok, who cared deeply about nature, beauty and sanctuary spaces. Millions of visitors have traversed this place of solace since it opened in 1929. Edward Bok was all about CARING for future generations – to be able to enjoy peace and beauty. His tribute signature is this:
When the Safety Culture is right…what do you see? What does Excellence look like?
On December 16-18, 2015, I was able to attend the Cruise Line International Association Safety Conference in Miami. The focus was on improving the safety culture and Bridge Resource Management. This is a very interesting business for me to learn about. I was there to give some perspective from the chemical industry.
There is a big need to be sure the managers of chemical plants are qualified so that their employees and neighboring communities do not suffer the consequences of chemical releases and spills. Many manufacturing businesses that do hazardous work, aside from chemical manufacturing, should heed this thinking too.
I’m reminded about the organization that thought their safety performance was always good, because they were primarily an office environment. They scoffed over how bad could a paper cut be? Or, what’s the worst that could happen if someone fell off their chair? Little did they expect that one of their office workers, when on a healthy outdoor walk during her scheduled break time, tripped over some roped off tape that had been blown by the wind. She actually walked into it – not paying attention to her surroundings – got caught up in it as it wrapped about her feet. She fell, twisted her knee, required surgical repair, etc., etc. Try to explain that office worker lost-time injury! (The good: healthy walk; The bad: not paying attention; The ugly: lost time injury).
We see organizations as complex adapting networks of people who are the vital keys to its success. When the people in the various parts of the network are sharing information and helping each other, all aspects of EHS Performance rapidly improves, resistance to change disappears and the energy bubbles up spilling over into all other parts of the work lifting the organization to new, higher levels of performance.
In many places, the hunting season is underway or just beginning. This is always a time of change and hazard. Some years when I was a plant manager, we would have one or two serious hunting-related, off-job injuries – like falling from a tree stand or tripping over something and breaking a leg. There is a lot of change as people go into the woods and fields looking for game. Many have not done this for a while. Others may not be fully prepared for a sharp change in the weather where a heavy rain could come in or the temperatures drop below freezing and hypothermia becomes a worry. It is often dark and visibility is poor. I have read of hunters getting killed with their own weapon when they have tripped and accidentally shot themselves. Don’t load your gun until you are ready to use it.
I have been talking about checklists in my previous newsletters and they can be useful as people go out hunting.
I recently read of a fatal accident where a man was killed while working on a lathe. It was properly shielded and okay for the normal conditions, but the unexpected happened. The part he was working on exploded apart under the high rotating speed when he engaged the cutter. The parts from the exploding piece went right through the shield and gave him terrible, fatal wounds.
Another thing that can happen around hunting season and the holidays is the need to hire temporary people to backfill for those who are out. These people need extra care and attention, but things are often so busy that it is hard to give it to them. These people just don’t know the hazards.
In many of my newsletters, I have talked about the importance of sharing information abundantly, building relationships of trust and interdependence, and helping people to see the importance of their own work in building the success of the whole organization.
