Effective communication is an essential component of every safety initiative. Whether you are talking with a route driver about safe backing or conducting a classroom presentation on lock-out/tag-out, good communication is needed to drive home the importance of safety.
By Will Flower
Communication and safety go hand-in-hand. In every type of safety meeting—one-on-one, small group or classroom—good communication skills are crucial to get the audience to hear and understand the material that is being presented.
We all know the basics of good conversation—speak clearly, make eye contact, be confident and face people when talking with them. It is also important to be prepared for the conversation. Most talks about safety are easy while other times the conversation can be gut-wrenching. For example, reinforcing a good behavior is fairly easy to talk about. A more difficult conversation may involve disciplinary actions in which an employee is getting written up, suspended or fired for violating a company’s safety policies.
Better Safety Communication
Supervisors, managers and safety professionals can benefit from these 9 tips to improve safety communication:
- Be a good listener. First and foremost, every good communicator is a good listener. Listening is an important part of the communication process and will help you to know if the other person understands your message.
- Be concise. As President Thomas Jefferson once said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of “never using two words when one will do.”
- Be genuine. People don’t care how much you know about safety until they understand how much you care. Show that you care and people will be more receptive to your message and more likely to engage in a conversation.
- Use stories and examples. Stories make the conversation more personal and can help make a point. But remember, a safety conversation is about safety—not you. Refrain from too many war stories and don’t drag out your experiences from the past 20 years.
- Be friendly and helpful. Try to make people comfortable.
- Don’t preach. Instead, have a dialog and encourage an exchange of information. Ask open-ended questions to solicit responses.
- Be aware of language barriers. Communication can fail for a number of reasons such as a language barrier.
- Be positive and recognize safe behavior. Encouragement and positive feedback is good and should be specific. Have open conversations with a positive statement about something that was observed.
Regular conversations about safety is a best practice. Keep in mind that the best conversations are dialogs in which employees have the opportunity to participate in the discussion by voicing their concerns, sharing opinions and talking about the risks and challenges that they face.
Exhibit Good Behavior
Finally, remember that talking about safety is not enough. Most importantly, managers, supervisors and executives must continually act safe and exhibit good and safe behavior. Show everyone on the team that you are serious about safety. You need to set a good example, which will speak volumes about the value you place on safety. So “walk the talk,” be safe and regularly talk about the importance of safety within your organization. | WA
Next month’s safety tip will discuss overhead clearance the need to stay safe near overhangs, wires, overpasses, trees and other hazards.
Will Flower is the Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs at Winters Bros. Waste Systems. Will has 32 years of experience in the area of solid waste management and environmental protection. He has held operational and executive leadership positions at the Director’s Office of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Waste Management, Inc., Republic Services. Inc. and Green Stream Recycling.