We begin this blog post with an acknowledgement
Being the person accountable for the safety of employees takes an extraordinary human being.
It takes someone who understands how vital it is to balance the health and wellbeing of workers with the business needs of the organization. If you’re in any position of safety leadership, we dedicate this blog post to you.
We acknowledge you for doing what it takes to ensure that your employees work in an environment that is as safe as possible, given the nature of your particular industry.
We appreciate you for being who you are.
A deep commitment does – and will – create an effective safety program
Let’s first unpack effectiveness for a moment.
Effectiveness is a funny thing: we can’t see, hear, touch, taste or smell it. But we know when effectiveness is present. And we’re well aware when it’s absent. And because we human beings are hooked on statistics, we’ve found myriad ways to measure effectiveness.
It looks like we’re starting at the end and working our way backwards, because we are. See: if we find out what an effective program looks like (relative to the nature of our particular industry), we can create a safety ‘destination’. And we know we must get to that destination. Having created that destination, we can begin to look at the ways we know we’re on track. And a reduction (or absence) of injury incidents is just one metric that will show us if we’re headed in the right direction. Zero injuries? Possible.
Incident reduction is a great place to start, but it cannot be the end goal.
Intention alone is insufficient.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Ouch! Cynical much? But hang with us for a moment. See, it’s just that, for us modern-type human beings, that saying too often rings too true for comfort.
Many – if not most – safety officers/managers/supervisors intend to achieve a zero-injury workplace. That is an admirable goal, whatever the underlying motivation. And of course, the intention is to actually realize that achievement. Trouble is, a zero-injury workplace is like bubble gum: it blows up, and up and up. And then someone is careless… It only takes a single injury to burst that bubble. It’s a house of cards: If zero injuries is the dream, that zero injury record is only ever 1 incident away from falling apart.
Not very empowering, is it?
It’s a tough pill to swallow: all the good intentions on this planet – and anywhere else we find sentient life – without an effective supporting structure will make limited to no difference in the world of safety. And no human being in their right mind – zero, zip, nada – in their right mind takes on the safety management field without a deep commitment to their own safety and safety of the people who perform their duties in their respective work environments. At least, we’d certainly hope not.
Now, before you despair, there is good news…
Commitment = Caring
Commitment is giving a damn; it’s what gets you up in the morning (even when you’re out of coffee); it’s what has you get in your car and brave rush hour traffic, unless you’re already driving before rush hour starts.
Commitment goes far deeper than an intention. If you are someone committed to safety in the workplace, creating a culture of safety at the place of employment is a question of integrity. It’s almost as though Safety looks at the world through your eyes. And it looks for opportunities to make the difference so that the health, wellbeing and lives of employees are protected. Your intention is part of your commitment.
Once again, if that’s you, we acknowledge you.
And especially now, when there’s a new year banging on the door, it just might be silly not to take full advantage of the chance to reflect a little, and create something new for the year ahead.
With an effective safety program that works, we can stop paving that road to Hell. After all, there are alternative destinations a-plenty. Why not start building a road that leads elsewhere?
Once we get over the new year’s eve party, that is…
Like you, we’re committed to employee safety, health and wellbeing
At PowerLift® we support our commitment with a training system that builds safety into the culture of our client-organizations. We train safety leaders from every level of your company. These leaders then become the core of your safety program. In a relatively short period of time, injuries could be reduced dramatically. If you’d like further details, we invite you to check out the case study tab on our main page.
We’re here to make the difference for you and your employees. Let us know how we can support your commitment to safety in the coming year.
Recent Comments