Safety Communication: I cannot align to what I don't know

More often than not, safety has been known to be a jargon. Once a safety officer starts to talk, the audience is not sure to make sense of all that is said. Some may follow to some level but still get lost. How many times have you been asked what a TBT, PTW, RA, RTP etc. is? We go forth and punish people for not doing the right thing (following safety protocols) yet, we are the ones who failed on relaying the rules.

We want to call the document, the procedure, The policy as is, at all levels. The big question remains, what does that make the audience feel? In my view, I would rather change the language or even the mode of communication as opposed to not communicating at all. Speak the language that your audience relates with.

The safety goal is the same for both those with very well-done written policies and procedures or those with excellent application methods. However, excellent application methods will always outdo beautifully done paper work. The safety performance is grown through continued practice. It is therefore paramount that safety rules are made relatable and easily practical.

In some instances, let the person know the “why” as opposed to “if”. As a worker, if I know why I need my safety boot, I am more likely to comply naturally since it becomes a mindset. Consequently, if I only focus on “If I don’t wear my safety boot” then I send my brain to defense mode. I’ll only wear when I am under watch. I may or may not remember to wear the boot when no one is looking.

Safety leads should target to not only talk but to communicate and connect with their audience.

This applies across the board. The management needs to know the why of supporting safety initiatives or else the support will only be motivated by the consequences.

As a way to make the message friendlier, create a setup that is not very intimidating to the worker. You cannot have friendly forums in the same rooms where threats and contractual warnings are issued.

Also as opposed to enforcing rules, seek information from the workers on what works best. They have information that we may never find in the books. Just like risks are scope specific, mitigations and application must be scope specific.

This article is not in any way meant to belittle safety message/communication, this is meant to say that whereas the message is coined to guide and ensure people are safe, the mode of delivery may hinder the safe performance. People may in all ways want to comply, but it is difficult to comply to what I don’t know.