Changing Culture Through Changing Minds
To improve safety culture, help employees find their motivation to stay safe.
- By Edwin Zalewski
- Nov 08, 2023
Applying a bit of psychology can help increase employee support for safety and improve your safety culture. Safety professionals should understand why some employees ignore safety rules and why others consistently follow them. Getting all workers to choose safety makes the safety professional’s job easier. Rather than trying to force employees to follow safety rules, help them find their own motivation for choosing safety.
To help employees make the right choice, demonstrate how safety benefits them. Give them action items to follow and point out that you all share the goal of preventing injuries. Explain that although the company pays the costs of injuries, employees pay the price, and serious injuries could prevent them from enjoying life outside work. The following offers ideas for encouraging more safety involvement.
Joining Walkarounds
Taking employees along on walkaround hazard assessments helps them understand the “why” behind safety rules. Show them what kind of hazards you look for, what kind of hazards you find, and how those hazards put them at risk. This shows them why safety matters and how it affects them.
For example, if you see a blocked fire exit, point out how it could cost lives during an evacuation. Seeing real-world situations helps employees understand that unsafe behaviors and safety violations could affect their lives.
Giving Action Items
To encourage more employee involvement, give them more “to do” items. Safety rules often include a lot of “do not” instructions, but that doesn’t tell employees how to participate. In one sense, this is like telling them, “Don’t get hurt,” which isn’t helpful.
Increase their “to do” list by changing how you deliver information. For example, instead of saying, “Do not block the exit” you might say, “Make sure the exit is always clear. If something is blocking the aisle, remove it and report it.” This provides a specific action item while teaching them to identify and address hazards. They can then begin taking responsibility for their own safety.
Addressing Complacency
Many safety professionals struggle with complacency, which often manifests as a “nothing bad will happen” attitude. To address this, make risks “real” rather than hypothetical. Safety professionals know that risk is a function of probability and severity. A potentially severe outcome (like an amputation) demands greater precautions even if the probability is low.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.