The Perfect Safety Meeting - Kevin Burns

The Per fect Safety MeetingBy Kevin BurnsSafety Speaker/Consultant

The Perfect Safety Meeting | ©ZeroSpeak Corporation 2

The Perfect Safety Meeting

You’ve been to safety meetings that missed the mark – boring, disengaging, forgettable. One-hour meeting or full-day stand-down events, safety meetings are not fun.

But is the safety meeting the most efficient tool in getting employees to quickly embrace the safety program? This book is designed to help you build safety meetings that work.

The Perfect Safety Meeting is packed full of ideas, tips and strategies, including:•whereyoushouldholdyoursafetymeetings•whogetstospeakatyoursafetymeeting•seatingandroomset-upsandwhyitmatters•thebiggestmistakethatsafetymeetingsmake•andsomuchmore.

Asameetingsindustryasaconsultantandpresenterfor fifteen years, Kevin Burns has seen it all. This book will help you build a safety meeting that works.

ThePerfectSafetyMeetingwilltransformyoursafety meetingsfromlegalrequirementstocan’t-misseventsthat engageemployees,createbuzzandultimately,getemployees to buy-in to safety.


The Perfect Safety Meeting

Copyright © 2013 Kevin BurnsEditedbyPatriciaBurns

All rights reserved. Printed in Canada. No part of this book may be reproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicor mechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,orbyanyinformation storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

ZeroSpeakCorporation(2013)paperback1steditionpublished2013.MartinBurnsPublishing(1994)CanadaeMail:[email protected]

CanadianCataloguinginPublicationData

Burns,KevinM.(KevinMaurice),1960–ThePerfectSafetyMeeting

ISBN978-0-9732327-5-2PaperbackISBN978-0-9732327-6-9ElectronicBookText

CIPDataonfilewithNationalLibraryofCanada

CalgaryAreaOfficeKevinBurns–Consultant/SpeakerZeroSpeak Corporation14-3125thAve,Suite150CochraneABT4C2E3403-770-2928

Printed in Canada


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TABLE OF CONTENT

Foreword ........................................................................6The Reason For This Book ........................................... 10WhySafetyMeetingsAreBoring ...............................16TheSafetyMeetingIsAMarketingStrategy ............. 23 HaveAThemeAndADesiredOutcome ..................29Go Positive .....................................................................35SelectAProjectManager ............................................40Engage ............................................................................44Logistics:•Venue .........................................................................49•Seating .......................................................................52•Audio/Visual ............................................................57•Catering/Refreshments ...........................................61ShortenThePresentations ...........................................63PickYourPresentersLikeProSports.........................69NotAllKeynoteSpeakersAreEqual .........................75TheBiggestThingSafetyMeetingsDoWrong .........80CreateASafetyCampaignToFollow-up ..................87EndMeetingsOnAHighNote ..................................92Closing ...........................................................................96


FOREWORD

You’ve seen perfection. Maybe a photograph, a paint-ing, an actor’s raised eyebrow, a little girl’s smile. At the right time, and right on-cue, it can be... perfection.

Laywitnesstoanarmedforcesparadedrill:perfectunison, thecadence,therhythm,theteamwork.Hoursandhoursofpracticesanddrillsandrehearsalsareenduredtogettoapointofexecutiveperfection.It’shardtoturnawayfromallofthoseboots, sounding as one.

Then,witnessaperfectbagpipebandmarchingthestreetsofaparade,perfectunisonintheirmarching,tasselsfromtheirdronepipesswingingleftandrightinperfectsynchronization.Therat-a-tat-a-tatofthosehigh,tightsnaredrumspunctuatedwithboom-boomfromthebassdrumaccentuatingthepunchof the melody. No one misses a beat or a note or a step. Itisperfection.


Witnesstheprecisionofauniversitymarchingband.Seethepride in their eyes when their teamwork hits on every note and everydrumbeat.Whenitcomestogetherinperfectexecution,it is a thing of beauty.

Whenapracticed,tightgrouphitstheirzone,theyareinaposi-tiontobeperfect.Theydon’tthinkaboutthenextnote,thenextsteporthenextmovement.Theyareflawless.Andit’sperfect.

Witness this and you have witnessed what your safety meeting canbe:perfect.

The“perfect”safetymeetinghasnothingtodowithyoursafetyrecord.ItisnotabouthittingZeroasaresultofyourmeeting.Itisaboutgettingyourpeopleintothatzonewheretheydon’tfight their urges to go against the right thing, where every step andeverydecisionistherightone.Itisthatplacewherepeoplecandonothingwrong–wheretheircontributioniseffortless–makingperfecttheeasiestthingthey’veeverdone.

Anyonecanfindtheirzone.Itjusttakestherightcoaching,therightmindsetandtheremovalofalloftheobstaclestoperfectexecution.Perfectiswhatyou,asasafetymanager,supervisor,adviserorfront-lineforeman,canhelpyourpeopleachieve.Yourjobisnotaboutcriticizingandre-livingwhattheyare alreadydoingwrong.Yourjobispreparingthemtobeperfect.

Coacheswhocriticizeincessantlyfindthattheirteamsdon’twanttoplayforthemafterlong.Playersbegintocheck-outofthecoachingsystembecausetheydon’tgetwhattheyneed:


encouragement,inspirationandthemotivationtoimprovetheirperformance.Yourjob,astheorganizerofasafetymeeting,istomake the safety meeting all about them – your people. It is not aboutcrossingoffitemsonalistorfulfillingalegalrequirement.Itisnotaboutrelivingpastissuesorinconsistencies.Thesafetymeetingisaboutbuildinganeventthatcanaidindevelopingthatmindset,thatattitudethatwantstochoosesafetyoverallelse.Theperfectsafetymeetingisaboutgivingthemnotonlywhat they need to be safe, but the permission to be inspired and motivatedtogooutandchoosesafetyforthemselves.

ThePerfectSafetyMeetingisaboutcommunicatingthose detailsoftheimportanceofsafetyandnotallowinganyobstacletolearningtostandintheway.Butjustlikeinsafety,thesafetymeetinghasbarriersandhazardsaswell.ThePerfectSafetyMeetingoccurswhentheobstaclesandhazardstolearning, engaging and buying-in have been removed.

When you have all of your people assembled in the same room andfocusedonthesingleissueofsafety,youcan:• readilyaddressissuesaroundclarityofmessage• troubleshootissuesandanybarrierstouptake

of the message• openlinesofcommunicationevenwiththe

toughest naysayers• createcamaraderiebetweenseniormanagement

and front-line workers• initiatethebeginningsoftrust,respectand caringbetweenallstaff.


Workersresistanttosafetycanstillgetcaughtupinthegangmentality and be swept along with others who are buying-in to the safety program. After all, people want to fit in. Nobody wants to be the odd man out. As long as the energy of the meet-ingishighandfriendlyandthefocusisonthefront-linework-ers,youcanbegintochipawayatthetoughexteriorofthosewhoaresafety-resistant.Onceyoucreateacrackinthattoughouter shell, you will find that those employees will begin to feel thattheirworkplaceactuallycaresaboutthem.

Yourjobastheorganizerofasafetyeventistocreateaconnec-tionwiththemessage,thelearningandeachother.PerfectisaboutgivingyourmeetingattendeeswhatTHEYneedtobesafe–includingprocesses,tools,insight,inspiration,motivation,encouragementand,mostimportantly,empowermenttomakethesafedecisions.Whenyoucanlookeverysingleco-workerin the eye and know that you did everything in your power to ensure their optimum learning and the tools they will need to protecttheirpersonalsafety,youwillhaveachievedThe Perfect Safety Meeting.


THE REASON FOR THIS BOOK

My name is Kevin Burns. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada – although my safety speaking and safety meeting consulting clients are located right across North America.

LetmetellyouabitofwhereIliveandhowmyhome influencedwhatIdoandwhyIwrotethisbook.

Rightnow,theAlbertaeconomyishealthyandactive.Alot ofmyworkisnaturallygoingtobelocatedwherethereisalot ofactivity–inmybackyardrighthereinAlberta.Thedown-sideofahoteconomythough,isthatwhenaneconomyisbusy,thebarforhiringgetslowered.Whencompaniesneedpeople,theycan’tbeasselectiveespeciallysincetherearemorejobsintheAlbertamarketplacethantherearepeople.Toillustratethatpoint,inthesecondquarterof2013,50,000jobswentunfilledinAlbertaduetolabourshortages–accordingtoTheConferenceBoardofCanada.Thatmeansanyonewhowantstoworkcanlikelyfindajob.Therearen’tenoughpeopletogoaround.


Onceuponatimewhentheeconomywasstalled(asitis currentlyinsomeotherpartsofNorthAmerica),youcould pickandchooseyourgoodpeople–peoplewhoalreadyhavethe“safetygene”intheirheads.Butastheeconomyrampsup, astheneedforemployeesoutstripsavailability,companiesfindthemselvesinaconundrum:takeadvantageofgoodtimesforbusinessexpansionandlowerthebartoentryforworkerswhooncewouldn’tgetaninterview,butwhonowgetthejobonthespot;ordonothingandturndowntheworkbecauseyour workerselectionstandardswouldhavetodrop.

You would think that with the highest numbers of safety profes-sionalsintheworkforceinhistory,andthebestworkplacesafetyprocessesandproceduresinplaceinhistory,thatwewouldhavethesafestworkplacesinhistory.Youwouldthinkthat.Butyouwould be wrong.

Althoughtherearemorecertificationsforsafety,morecerti-fiedsafetypersonnel,moreprocedures,moreunderstandingofsafety,moreacceptanceofit,moretraining,morecommitmentstoit,morecorporateculturesbuiltonsafety,thesadtruthisthatsafetyincidentnumbersaregoingup!

Likeyou,Ireadthenewspapereverymorning–technicallyit’sasubscriptiononmyiPadbutit’sstillmylocalnewspaper.InSeptemberof2013,IreadthisintheCalgaryHeraldnewspaper:145occupationalfatalitiesoccurredinAlbertalastyear(2012).


Thosefatalitiesbrokedownthisway:•36diedinoccupationalmotorvehicleaccidents•58diedfromoccupationaldiseases•51werekilledinworkplaceincidents.

Let’sextrapolatethenumbers.Thatmeans:•every10days,someonewaskilledinacar accidentwhileworking

•every6.9days,someonediedofan occupationaldisease

•everyweek,someonegotkilledin aworkplaceincident–everyweek.

But it didn’t end there. The newspaper report also quoted that expertspredictthatanother200peoplewilldiethisyear(2013)–oneevery43hours.Inotherwords,everysecondday,some-one is going to die at work – in Alberta alone.

Nowlet’sbeclear,theissuesidentifiedinthenewspaperreportarenotjustanAlbertaproblem.Albertahasunder1.5%oftheNorthAmericanworkforce.Soextrapolatethosenumberstoyourownhomeprovincesandstates.

These problems are worldwide and safety managers should be embarrassedifnotsicktotheirstomachs.Atnotimeinhistoryhavetherebeenmoresafetyprofessionalsintheworkplace.Atnotimehavetherebeenbetterworkplacesafetyprocessesandprocedures.Andyetthenumbersofpeopledyingorbeinghurtonthejobisonanupswing.


So,thequestionmaybeasked,what are we doing about it? We’re waiting for the government to toughen up legislation. We’rearguingonLinkedInaboutwhosesafetycertificationisbetter.We’reendorsingsafetymanagerstobecertifiedinsafetybut not trained in inter-personal management skills. Companies are treating safety as a legal requirement instead of a lifestyle choice–focusingmoreonmeetingtherequirementinstead ofsurpassingit.Butit’snotworking.Lookattheresults.

It’snocoincidencethatworkplacesurveysregularlyrevealthat71%ofNorthAmericanworkersarenotactivelyengaged.7outof10apatheticemployeesaregettinghired,senttosafetyschoolfor a week or so, set loose on the work-site and put under the tutelage of safety supervisors who may know a lot about safety but little in how to engage, inspire or motivate employees.

But don’t put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the safety people.TheyregularlycomplainthatHRishiringpeoplewholackthebasicsafetygeneintheirDNAandsomehow,itendsup being put on the shoulders of the safety supervisors to de-program employees of all of their past behaviors and re-program theminsafety.7in10disengagedemployeesaresomehow getting past the HR department.

Meanwhile,atsafetystand-downs,seniormanagersareputtinginappearances.Theytakethestagefirstthinginthemorningto address their employees and to rally the employees around safety.Theypreachtheircommitmenttosafetyandtoensuringthatsafetyisatopcorporatevalueandthentheywalkoutof thesafetymeetingbecausetheyhaveother“moreimportant”meetings to get to.


Neverbeforehavetherebeenbetterprocessesinsafetyandsowedon’tneedtohavemoreconversationsabouttheprocessesofsafety.Theprocessesofsafetyareveryclear.Thevariable,though,intheprocessispeople.Safetyisn’taprocessproblem–it’s a people problem.

Safetyinsistsononlyaddressingtheprocesspart.Butthat’snotwheretheproblemexists.Ifitwereonlyaprocessproblemandtheprocesseswerestandardized(bestpractices)thenwhy wouldn’t every workplace be at Zero?Theanswer:people. That’s thedifferentiator.Standardizedprocessesindifferentworkplacesgetdifferentresults.Thedifferentiatorispeople.

Safetypeopledon’twanttohearthatbecausesafetypeople havebeenschooled,trained,testedandcertifiedinprocesses–notpeople.Neverbeforehavetherebeenmoreeducation, and meetings, and talks, and reminders, and marketing, and advertising and training in safety. And yet, the numbers of workplaceincidentsarerising.

There is a people problem in safety. There is a mindset problem insafety.Thereisadecision-makingprobleminsafety.Noneofitisfixedbyabetterprocess.Processdoesn’tfixpeople.Processfixesprocess.Peoplefixpeople.

Safetyneedstogetpersonal:appealingtothepersonal values, the personal attitudes and the personal belief systems of every single worker on every single work site in every single organization.Isn’t that why you have safety meetings? After all, regular safety meetings are supposed to improve safety uptake aren’t they?


Safetymeetingsonlyworkwhenyouengagetheheartsandmindsofthepeopleyouaretryingtoprotect.Yourpeoplehavegot to be as vigilant about safety as you are about getting them tocomplywithsafety.Complianceisnotsafety–itisprocess.Itis not personal. It does not appeal to their values, their attitudes or their belief systems.

Yoursafetymeetingsareoneofthebest,mostefficientwaysto help people buy-in to safety. Everyone is assembled under one roof, all getting the same message at the same time. The strengthsandweaknessesofsafety,especiallyprevailingatti-tudesinsafety,getexposedatsafetymeetings–butonlywhenyou are engaging those minds. Boring them with data and reports and bad PowerPoint is not how you engage.

Safetyisfartooimportanttoglossoveritandsay,“Well,we hadameeting.”Abadsafetymeetingwilldrivepeopleawayfrom safety more than it will pull them towards safety. The safety meetingmustbeplannedperfectly,executedperfectlyandgetplacedperfectlyinthemindsofyourattendees.

People really don’t need to get hurt anymore. How about we just start there?


WHY SAFETY MEETINGS ARE BORING

Companies stress about organizing their big safety meetings and annual stand-downs. They end up leav-ing it to the last minute, scrambling just enough to pull something off that looks like there may have been a rudimentary amount of thought put into the meeting.

Mixedmessages,badPowerPointslides,technologythathadissuesatthelastminuteareallsignsofunpreparedness.Morethoughtandorganizationgoesintothemeetingvenue,foodandcoffeelogistics,tablesandchairsset-upandgiveawaysattheendofthemeetingthantheamountoftimeandenergyfocusedonwhatwillbediscussedinthemeeting,whowillpresentandwhetherornotthosemessagesactuallyalignandsupportwithwhat you’ve been telling them up to now.

Safetyisallaboutpreparednessyetthesafetymeetingdoesnotmeetthosesamestandards:•chairpersonsreadingoffdocumentsseenforthefirsttimebecausetheyhaven’tbotheredtopreparethemselvesproperly


•elevenbulletpointsperpageonslidesinfont-sizesosmall,thepresentercan’tseeitthemselves

•paddingpresentationswithgruesomephotosandInternetvideosbecausethepresenterwasgivenanhourtofillbutonly has 20 minutes worth of solid material

•waitinguntiljustafewdaysoutfromthemeetingtobeginassemblingsomesortofmeetingagendasoyoucanfulfill the legal requirement.

Throwing together a safety meeting at the last minute does not inspireconfidencefromyourpeople.Youmaypreachagainstsafetycomplacency,butyoursafetymeetingsaretheresultofthatverysamecomplacency.

TheOccupationalHealth&SafetyActrequiresyoutotalk to your people in a safety meeting. There is no requirement to borethem,toscoldthemortoshowthemgruesomephotosofdismembered bodies. It doesn’t require you to read every single wordofyourslidesasyoursafetypresentation–whatIcall Corporate Karaoke. It doesn’t require you to monotonously pointouttheglaringerrorsofyourrecentinspections,ortospending inordinate amounts of time beating to death what is painfullyobviousinonesentenceinyourinspectionreport.TheOH&SActdoesnotrequireyoutomeetinthedirtybackshop to ensure that safety is relegated to out-of-site-out-of-mind areas, or to adopt kindergarten-like safety slogans that don’t evenremotelyresonatewithyourpeople,becausetheyaretooembarrassedtohavethosewordscomeoutoftheirownmouths.No,youdoallofthosethingsbychoice.


Yoursafetymeetinghasnotcomeclosetowhatyouare capableof.You’refallingfarshortofyourpotential.Youexpectyour people to raise their game in safety but you won’t raise yours.Andyoustillcan’tfigureoutwhyyourpeoplehaveto beconstantlypolicedintocompliance.

“Thisisthewaywe’vealwaysdoneoursafetymeeting,”putsastoptosafetymeetingengagement.Employeestaketheircuesnot from what you say but from what you do. You assemble yourpeopleunderoneroofinanefforttoimprovethesafetyperformance.Butyoudon’timprovethemeetingsthatare meant to improve safety. How can anyone take your safety meetings seriously?

If you want your people to get better at safety, to engage better in safety and look out for the wellbeing of their fellow workers in safety then you’ve got to show them what getting better looks like. After all, if you keep doing what you’ve always done(runningyourmeetingsthesameway),you’regoingtokeepongettingwhatyou’vealwaysgotten(safetyperformance willnotimprove).

Safetycultureisnotcreatedinsafetymeetings–itisreinforced.Whatevercultureexistsgetsamplifiedatsafetymeetings. Employees who show up without any intention of learning or remembering,whositingroupsatthebackoftheroomtalkingamongst themselves while presenters try to ignore them only amplifiestheexistingcultureofsafetyinyourworkplace.Presenters who throw together a last-minute presentation of barelyrelatableinformation,whotalkdown(evenaccidentally)


totheirpeople,whoscoldtheiremployeesorattempttoscarethemintocompliancewillshowuplargerthanlifeinasafetymeeting.Itshowsuplookinglikecontemptforyourpeople and/oryourjob.Peoplehatesmugsuperiorityanddisconnectimmediately from anyone who displays it in any form.

You as a safety manager, adviser or supervisor need to put away any smug, superior attitudes and get down to what matters in safetymeetings:talkingwithyourpeople–notatthem.It’sameeting.It’snotalecture.It’snotaone-waybroadcast.It’snotachancetojustifyyourtitle.Thesafetymeetingisaboutmakingsureyourpeoplegettheencouragement,inspirationandmo-tivationtheyneedtohelpthemmakethedecisiontoembracesafety,tobuy-intoit,andtowanttochoosesafetyonthejob.

Ultimately,andincaseyoudidn’tgetthememo,safety managers,advisersandsupervisorshaveonejob–toensurethattheirpeoplehave:•therighttoolsandprocesses•therightinformationandpractices•themotivationtowanttobesafe•regularinspirationtofeedtheirmotivation•consistentencouragementtodotheirworksafely.

Employeesarguethattheirbossesonlyconcentrateonthe firsttwoofthefiveitems.Safetymeetingsaretheperfectvehicletoaddressthelastthreeitems:motivation,inspirationand encouragement.Itisthefinalthreepointswhereyourpeoplestopmindlesslycomplyingwithsafetyandstartactively engaging and buying-in to the safety program.


Yoursafetymeetingmustbecomemorethanstatsand figuresandreviewofreportsandinspectionsandprocedures.That’sboringandlazy.Dataisnothowyoubuildteamwork andcamaraderieandadesiretowanttolookoutfortheir fellowworkers.Yourpeoplewillnotbuy-intosafetybecauseyouspent20minutesdiscussinginspectionreports.

Andevenifyourincidentnumbersaredown,don’tassumethatit’sbecauseyourpeoplebuy-intosafety.Theydonot.Ifyouwanttowitnessyourownexample,askyourselfhowmanyofyourpeoplespeedtowork,rollingthroughstopsigns,changinglaneswithoutsignaling,lookingthroughthecrackedwindshieldwhiledistractingthemselvesbehindthewheel–untilthey arriveatthesafetymeeting.Thentrytoconvinceanyonethatyourpeople“buy-in”tosafety.

Technicallythough,it’snotthesafetymeetingsthatareboring.It’s the presenters that are boring – taking ten minutes of solid informationandcrammingitintoa90-minutepresentation.Thesafetycontentthough,whenpackagedproperly,israrelyboring.Afterall,anythingthatkeepspeoplesafe,offersthemopportunitiestomakebetterdecisions,encouragesthemtochoosetobeaccountablefortheiractionsandmakesitpossiblefor them to go home to their families and play with their kids, can’tpossiblybeboring.

Butthereareplentyofone-size-fits-allsafetymeetingtemplatesthatareold,wornoutanddon’tworkanymorebecausetheyarebasedontheoldcompliancemodelofsafety.Complianceisnotbasedonsafetybuy-in.Itisbasedonpolicingandenforcement.


If you’re only going to bring your people together for a day inameetingandallyouplantodoistopushthem,controlthemandadmonishthemintocompliance,youaregoingtodrive them away from safety and make your safety meeting a huge failure.

Thesafetymeetingrequiresare-brand.Stopcallingitasafetystand-down.Stopusingsafety-relatedacronymsandjargon.Safetyrequiresanewattitude.Safetydeservestobefrontandcenterineverydepartmentofeverybusinessunitofthe organization. Thisisastaffsafetyeventandassuch,itshouldbetreatedlikeany other business meeting revolving around personal leader-shipskills,team-buildingorwellnessdays.Besides,youcan’tsuccessfullyperforminsafetywithoutteamwork,leadershiporwellnessanyway.Stopmakingsafetyanarms-lengthprogramforguyswhowearhard-hatsandsafetyboots.Safetydoesn’tjustwearcoveralls.Safetyisa24/7lifestylechoicethatallmembersofthestaffmustchoosetobuy-into.

Empoweringpeopletochoosesafetyforthemselvesandtheirfamiliesisthesurestwaytochangeacultureofsafetywithin anorganization.Staffmembersaremorewillingtoactsafewhen they feel safe – and when they feel that their safety is demonstrablyvaluedbythecompany.


Thisbookisbeingofferedasaguideforsafetymanagerswhowant to take a safety meeting to the big time. Having been in the meetingsindustryasavendor,consultantandpresenterforoverfifteen years, I have seen meetings that work and meetings that flop.Myintentistohelpyoubuildasafetymeetingthatworks,engagesemployeesandcreatesadesireforattendeestoactuallyenjoythemselveswhilelearningaboutandbuying-intosafety.


THE SAFETY MEETING IS A MARKETING STRATEGY

There is no better tool, strategy, tip, trick, secret or philosophy better designed to get employees to quickly buy-in to safety than the safety meeting.

The safety meeting, in addition to being a legal requirement, is a marketing strategy. It is not a safety training session. Use your safety meeting to help your people buy-in to safety at a personal values level.

NowhereintheOH&SActdoesitrequireyoutogetyourpeo-pletobuy-intosafetyasalifestylechoice,ortocreateawork-ingsafetyculture,ortogenuinelyshowyouremployeesthatyouactuallycareaboutthemandtheirsafety.No,therulesonlytellyouwhatyoumustcomplywithandwhatyourworkplacemustcomplywith.WhatisnotintheActisthatworkplaceswithstrongsafetycultures,whoopenlyshowtheiremployeesthattheymatterandwhosemeetingsaremoreaboutcelebratingsuccessesthanberatingforineptitudesaretheworkplaceswhereturnover,attritionandincidentsarelow.


Agreatworkplacewithagreatsafetyrecord,anexcellentsafetycultureandastrongsenseofteamworkandwatchingoutforeachotheralsohasalineupofpeoplewaitingtoapplytoworkthere–aswellashavingalonglineofhappy,satisfiedcustomerswhowillinglywanttobeassociatedwithacompanythatcaresaboutitspeople.Nowhereisthesafetycultureofanorganiza-tion on display more than at a safety meeting.

Thesafetymeetingismorethanjustalegalrequirement.Itisanopportunitytorallyyourpeoplearoundacommontheme–safety.Regardlessofanydifferencesthatmayexistelsewhereinanorganization,safetyisanimprovementstrategythateveryonecangetbehind.Itisnotabore-festofdata,numbers,reportsandinspections.Noneofthatmakespeoplewanttobebetter.Noneofitencourages,inspiresormotivatespeopletowanttobesafeonthejob.

Imaginereceivingapairofticketstowatchyourfavoritesportsteamplay.You’vebeengivenprimeseatsandyou’reexcited.Butonceyougetthere,thereisnogame.Thereareonlystats,andnumbers,anddataandreportsandtransactions.Sure,statsandnumbersanddataareapartofsportsbutit’snottheenjoyablepart. You were looking forward to attending something that createdagreatmemory–notsomethingsoboringthatyouwerementallychecked-outthemomentitbegan.

Thesafetymeetingisthemostimportanttoolinacompany’sarsenal in helping employees to buy-in to safety. It is impor-tantthatyouunderstandthatbadsafetymeetingscanactuallyprevent employees from buying-in to safety in the same way that a boring real-estate agent who only wants to show you the


stats,roomsizesinsquarefeet,BTUoutputofthefurnaceandthelegallanddescriptionallonpaperbutdoesn’twanttoshowyou the house to see for yourself. You would quit that realtor andchoosesomeoneelse.Youwanttobuildanattachmenttothehouse.Youwanttopictureyourfurnitureinthehouse.You want to see the view from the windows. You want to see thebackyard,thekitchenwhereyouwillhostfriends,thebed-rooms where your kids will grow up. You want to at least see the photosandvideooftheproperty–notjustreadthestatisticsand data on the property.

Arealtor,bytakingyouonavisittothehouse,canaccomplishin ten minutes what it would take days, maybe weeks to other-wiseconvinceyoubyonlylookingatthedata.Likeseeingthehousefromtheinside,likewatchingthatnail-bitersportingevent,safetyneedstobeadiscussionofmorethanjustdata andreports.Safetyhastobepersonal.Safetyhasgottoappealtothe“want-to”sideofthebrain.Ifyoucancreateadesireforsafety,youbuildinstantbuy-in.Thesafetymeetingistheperfectmarketing strategy to get all of your people on the same page at the same time in safety.

If you skip over the idea that safety meetings are a part of your overall safety marketing strategy, you will struggle to get your employees to buy into safety at a deep, personal level. Untilemployeesbuy-intosafety,youwillexpendgreatamountsoftime,energyandeffortinpolicingyourpeopleintocompli-ance.Onceyougetyourpeopletobuy-intosafety,theneedforpolicingyourpeopleallbutdisappears.Theybecomeaself- policing,engagedgroupofworkerswhowillinglylookoutforthe well-being of their fellow workers.


Safetypuristswillhatethatideathatthesafetymeetingisagreatsafetymarketingvehiclebecausetheyliketousethesafetymeeting as an opportunity to step onto the stage for the wrong reasons;purelyself-servingreasons.Butthosepeoplejustdon’tget it. They think safety is reserved only for those who have achievedsomesortofdesignation.Butsilosdon’tbuildsafety.Certificationdoesn’tbuildsafety.Trainingdoesn’tbuildsafety.Buy-in builds safety. Celebration builds safety. Culture builds safety.

Thesafetymeetingisthebestlarge-scalestrategytoimpactmanymindsatonce.Youhaveacaptiveaudienceallinoneplace.Pleasedon’tborethecrapoutoftheminonefellswoop.Pleasedon’tlendevidencetotheperceptionthatsafetymeetingsareboring.Pleasedon’tlettheincredibleopportunityatyourdisposal slip through your fingers.

Don’tassumethatjustbecausethey’veshownupandyou’vepre-pared an endless assault of PowerPoint slides and that you have the stage please don’t think that you have their attention. You do not.Youhavetheirtolerance.Youmustearntheirattention.

That’swhyhowyoudosafetymeetingscanbethedifference between employees buying-in to safety and workers simply toleratingthesafetyrules(theillusionofsafety).Thisisa celebrationofsafety.Yes,therearesomeeducationalelementsbut it is not an information dump.


Re-framewhatsafetyisinthemindsofyourpeople.Makethemseesafetydifferently.Changeperspectivesontheimportanceofsafety–whileatthesametime,combiningitwithadegreeoffun.Disconnectsafetyfromtheworkplace.

Safetyshouldberewardingandfun.Allwork,allseriousand noplaycangetoldfast.Safetyissupposedtobeenjoyable.Meetingsinarelaxedatmospherecanpromotethatfeeling.Whenpeoplearerelaxed,theycanhelpeachotheruncoverideasandsparkinspirationwhentheygettoknoweachotheronapersonallevel.Whenpeoplebegintodiscusssafetyinaninformal manner, that’s when the ROI of your safety meeting payshandsomedividends.That’swhenbuy-inoccurs.

Nomatterhowexperiencedanyoneis,everyonecanstilllearn.Theeducationalpartofasafetymeetingcanexposeworkers tonewwaysoflookingatsafetyandhelpthemdiscoverhowtobemoreproductive,responsibleandaccountablewhenitcomestotheirownsafetyaswellasthesafetyoftheirco-workers. Thesafetymeetingexposesemployeestonewideas.Shared enthusiasm in learning sessions helps drive the message home that safety is important.

We’veallbeentosafetymeetingsthatmissedthemark—topicswerenotrelevant,sessionsranwaytoolong,disorganizationwastheruleratherthantheexceptionandinformationwasforgottenassoonasthemeetingwasover.That’sbecauseyourpeopleareshowingupbecausetheyhavebeentoldto.Theyareforcedtobethereandtheyarebraced-for-boredom.


Safetymeetings,historically,arenotfun.Theyarenotexciting.Theyarenotlavishintheirproductionnorthecontent.Afterall,safety is serious, right? But ask yourself, would you rather have an employee enjoy having fun with safety or resisting it because it’s boring?

Safetymeetingsareusedasinformation-dumpsinsteadofthebusinessmeetingthattheycouldbe.Safetyperformancehastheabilitytobolsteracompanyorruinit.Staffdaysshouldbereplacedbysafetydayswherethefocusisonsafety,wellness,health and teamwork within a safe environment. If safety is morethanjustmindlesscomplianceandwearingofPPE,thenwhy haven’t more organizations ensured that their staff celebrate safety instead of just comply with safety?

Ifyouwanttochangethesafetyculturewithinyourcompany,itstartswithnothowyoudosafety,butbyhowyoucelebratesafety.Itisastaffsafetydayandassuch,itshouldbetreatedlikeany other business meeting revolving around personal leader-shipskills,team-buildingorwellnessdays.Besides,youcan’tsuccessfullyperforminsafetywithoutteamwork,leadershiporwellnessanyway.Safetyisa24/7lifestylechoice–notasetofrules to abide by.

TheSafetyMeetingisthemostimportanttoolinacompany’sarsenal in helping employees to buy-in to safety.


HAVE A THEME ANDA DESIRED OUTCOME

“Make sure meeting objectives are clear and concise.” (From “Meetings and Events Planning for Dummies” by Susan Friedmann)

Genericsafetymessagesarelikeanill-fittingsuit.Buyoneofftherackanditcanlooklikeacheapattempttodress-up.Buttake that same suit, tailor the sleeves and buttons to the right length,tailorthepants,cuffsandwaisttofitperfectlyanditbe-comesasuitthatsomeoneisproudtowear.Whenitfitsperfect-ly,itisneveruncomfortableandyouaremorewillingtowearitand own it. It is the same too with a safety message. It has to fit perfectly,ornoonewillwanttowearit.

It’snotjustgenericsafetymessagesthatareatissue.Safety slogansthatlookliketheywererippedfromthepagesofDr.Seussbooksareequallydisengaging.How are people supposed to responsibly buy-in to something that looks juvenile? Here are a few safety messages to remind you of The Cat In the Hat or


There’saWocketInMyPocket:•Aspill.Aslip.Ahospitaltrip.•Safetyisgainful.Accidentispainful.•Stayalert.Don’tgethurt.•Yourheadwillgosplatwithoutyourhardhat.•10fingers.10toes.Ifyouarenotsafe–who knows?

Dr.Seusssafetyiskindergartenforadults.Ifyouexpectyouremployees to take safety seriously, to buy-in and own safety as a personal value, they have to have a safety message that resonates with their own personal values.

JustDoIt®isNike’smessage.Theyownit.Theypromoteit.They have built their brand around it. Anyone dares to use their sloganandthearmyoflawyerscomedownhardonthem.NikeownsJustDoIt®.ButBeSafeisnoone’smessage.Nooneownsit.Noonehasabevyoflawyerswho,tothedeath,protectit. So,ifitbelongstonoone,how can there be ownership of the message?Besides,BeSafeisanincompletesetofinstructionsbecauseyouhavetodosomethingbeforeyoucanbesomething.

Youcannotinstructpeopleinwhatyouwantthemtobe.Youinstructtheminwhatyouwantthemtodo.Youwantthemtoactsafely,towatchthebacksoftheirfellowworkers,totakesafety home and impart the ideals of safety to their families. In other words, you want your people to buy-in to safety through theirdecisionsandactions.


BeSafemaybefamiliar,butitisimpossibletodoandaterribletheme for a meeting.

Thepurposeofanysafetymeetingistomaketheorganizationbetter–notjustbetter-informed.Withoutatheme,youun-knowinglyencourageyourpresenterstoengageinaninforma-tiondump;throwingoutrandomfacts,figures,charts,graphs,research,unrelatedvideos,storiesthathavenothingtodowiththe theme and then asking your people to make sense of it all.

Althoughitmayseemcounter-intuitive,“safety”isnotatheme.It is too broad.

If your safety meeting is without a theme, it is possible that youcouldentertainpresentationsonslipsandtrips,newOH&Sregulations,newJHAforms,driving,fallarrest,certification,new safety email strategies and hand-washing. How would your attendees know which of those subjects they should take action on first?Withoutatheme,you’vedumpedabunchofinformationwithnowaytoensurethattheyactonanyofit.You’vegivenyour attendees another reason to hate safety meetings – nostructureandnopurpose.

The reason for having a theme to your safety meeting istwo-fold:

1.Toensurethateachofyourpresentersspeakstothetheme(couldbeSafeDrivingorCourtesyToOthersorSpeakingUp).Withallpresentersfocusedonasingletheme,attend-eescanmakeitapplicableatwork.


2.Youneedtohaveacall-to-actionafterthemeeting– askingyourpeopletodosomethingdifferentasaresult of attending the meeting. Otherwise, why bother meeting in the first place?

AthemeofSafeDrivingallowsyoutoremovethepresentationsthathavenothingtodowithdriving–unlessyoucanmakethemrelevanttothetheme.Ergonomicsandexercisecanbe relatedtodriving:headisstillandbodydoesn’tmoveforhoursatatime.Itmustrelatedirectlytothethemewhicheliminatesthemish-mashoftopics,paddingandfiller.

Athemeforthemeetinggivesanindicationofwhatattendeescanexpectandtheycanpreparetheirappropriatemindsetwhilepresenters prepare relevant presentations to the theme. If the onlyintentistodiscusscomplianceissuesatyoursafetymeet-ing,yourattendeesaregoingtocheckoutmentallyshortlyaftertheyarrivephysically.

Noteveryoneagreeswithorsubscribestotheveryconceptofcompliance.Soyoursafetymeetinghastobereflectiveofthefactthatnoteveryonethinksthesame,learnsthesameorevenembracessafetythesameway.Safetyisnotadictatorship.Itismorethanjustrulesandregulations.Safetyisalifestylechoice.How are you addressing that in your safety events?

The days of simply following a safety meeting agenda template areover.Templatesarebasedonacompliancemodel.How do you address motivation to want to look out for each other? How do you get people to want to be safe by choice?Rules,processes


andproceduresdon’tappealtoaworker’spersonalvaluesforsafety.That’swhypeoplementallycheck-outofsafetymeetings:becauseitsoundslikeone-waynaggingandscoldinginsteadofappealing to the employee’s personal values in safety.

Are you expecting your attendees to be participants or specta-tors? Are you asking them to contribute? Are you asking them to find solutions to workplace problems after each session? Are you challenging them to uncover what they see wrong or missing from workplace safety?Ifnot,you’rerunningacompliancemeetingthatisnotopentoconversation,discussionorexplorationofnew ideas. You don’t have to assemble them in a room to talk at them.Youcansendthemavideo.Yoursafetymeetingsarenothardcoretrainingsessions.

When managers attend weekly management meetings, they attendtoopenlyparticipateinadiscussionwithothermanag-ers.Managementtrainingisverydifferentthanmanagementmeetings. Committee meetings are not training sessions. Why then, do safety managers think a safety meeting is a training session?Itisnot.Trainingrequiresmemorization. Meetingsrequirethinking.

Sothinkaboutyoursafetymeeting.Developathemeandthenbuildyourlistofpresentersaroundthattheme.Tellyourpeoplebefore they get there what the theme for the meeting is going to be. Remind them at the beginning of the meeting and through-outtheentireday.Wrapupeachcontributor’spresentationwithacall-to-action.Askyourpeopletotake5-10minutestodiscusswhattheycandowiththeinformationandhowtheycouldusetheinformationpractically.


Attendeesatsafetymeetingswanttoknow:whytheyare there,whatwillbecovered,whyit’simportantandwhatyouwantthemtododifferently.Missonanyofthosepointsand you have wasted your time and theirs.

If your people know they are going to be asked to do something with the information, they will pay attention. Have a theme,apurposeforthemeetingandacall-to-actionafter every presentation. You will be pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement and the open willingness to attend more of these kinds of meetings.


GO POSITIVE

You tell your employees that if they embrace safety and choose safely, they will go home without being hurt. But when those same employees get to the safety meeting, they are met with data, numbers, inspection reports and boredom.

How exactly does data help them embrace safety? How do grue-some photos and videos and data and charts provide inspiration, motivation and encouragement to buy-in to safety directly?

In safety, there is a mistaken belief that in order to motivate employeestobuy-intosafety,youhaveto“gonegative.”Thefocusofsafetymarketinghasbeenwrong.Don’tconcentrateonwhat you might lose if you don’t do safety. You don’t buy-in to a financialplanbecauseofwhatyoumightlose.Youdon’tbuy-intoahealthylifestylebecauseofwhatyoumightlose.Butsafetyisfocusedonremindingworkersofwhattheymightloseiftheydon’tcomply–insteadofshowingpeoplehowsafetybuy-inmakes life better.


Scaretactics,gruesomephotosandthreatsofconsequencedonotcreatesafetybuy-in.Theycreateaccidentavoidance–ashort-termresultthatneedstobeconstantlyfedandreinforced.Employeesaresubjecttoaregularbarrageofblame,findingfaultandlayingontheguiltinordertogetsafetycompliance.Unfortunately, workers feel like they’re being treated like moronswhoaren’tcapableoffiguringitoutforthemselves.Safetyneedstogrowupandstartshowingalittlematurity.

Safetyisthegreatequalizer.Therearenopositionsinsafety.Safetytranscendsposition.Safetyistheoneimprovementstrat-egythatcancutthroughthepoliticsandthepowerstrugglesand the isolation of silos and kingdoms – in every department inanorganization.Safetytranscendsofficepolitics.Peoplecanputawaytheirpettydifferencesinfavorofsafety.Youwillfindpeople who are willing to work towards safety improvement in bothpositiveandnegativecorporatecultures.Safetycanalignboth good workers and risky workers. Everyone in every workplacecanagreeonsafety.

Thereasonsafetyistetheredtofearandscare-tacticsisbecausefearcausescompliance.Acopatthesideofahighwaycausesfearwhichisashort-termmotivatorinslowingpeopledown–compliance.Butnoteveryoneonthehighwayisspeeding. Infact,somedrivers,thesafedrivers,welcomethesightofa policemanasadeterrenttogettheyahoostoslowdown.And,likeacopatthesideoftheroad,fearonlycausestemporarycompliance–untilthe“threat”haspassed.


Truthfully,noteveryonedrivesoverthespeedlimitandnoteveryoneactslikeayahooonthejobsite.Someofyourworkershavealreadychosensafetyforthemselves.Theyalreadybelievethattheyhavemuchtoliveforandwanttostickaroundalong,longtime.Theymakesmartchoices,safechoices.Exposingthosegoodpeopletobadmarketing(fear-mongeringmessages)doeslittletobuildasolidsafetyculture.

Youdon’tbuildasolidsafetyculturebyappealingtofearof failure.Thehomelesspersonisnottheposter-childfornotbuy-ing-intoasolidfinancialplan.Themorbidlyobesepersoninahospitalbedisnottheposter-childfornotbuying-intohealthand fitness. Instead, you see photos of happy, healthy, well-balancedpeoplewithnicehomesandbeautifulfamiliesgettingcongratulatoryhandshakes,showingplentyofsmilesandstand-ingonmountaintops(mountain-climbingisnotapre-requisitetoachievingsuccess–just saying).Theyarethepicturesandexamplesofsuccess–not failure.

But in safety, it’s not unusual to see severed limbs, gruesome photosofaccidents,cutsandtheobligatorygravestone.Thesearescaretacticsfocusedonthehazardsoffailure.Theyare designedtogetcompliance–notbuy-in.

Broke people don’t get invited to tell their sad stories of bank-ruptcyatmeetingsoffinancialplanners.Fatpeopledon’tget tooffertheir“don’tdowhatIdid”advicetofitnesstrainers.Peopledon’twanttoknowwhatNOTtodo.Theywantaplanandstrategyforsuccess–onethatbuildsonstrengthsand teamwork – not negativity and fear. What organization ever got to be great by being focused on the negative?


Onlyinsafetydoyouseeaccidentvictimsembracedand reveredasexpertsinsafety.Accidentvictimsturnedspeaker arenotsafetyexperts–theyareinjuryexperts.“Don’tdowhat Idid”isnotasafetymessagethatcansustain.Itisamessagethatneedsconstantreinforcement.

Safetymanagersarenotmotivationalexperts.Anysafetyman-ager that believes going negative works is simply not well-versed in human motivation. They are not familiar with the subtle nuancesofwhatpeopledowhentheyareexposedtonegativemessagesversuswhatactionstheywilltakeinreactiontoa positive message. Putting the fear of God into employees is a motivator – but the wrong kind.

“Motivationbyfearproducesveryshorttermresultsand talentleavesquicklywhentheycan.Feardoesmotivate,butnotinapositiveway,”accordingtoJohnBossong,GeneralManagerofCumberlandInternationalTrucksinMurfreesboro,Tennes-see.“Greatleaderscreateaculturebuiltonintrinsicmotivators.When people know that their work matters, that is their motiva-tion.Theydon’tneedfear.”

Safetydoesn’tneedtogonegativetosellitself.Itdoessobecausethesafetyindustryhasconditionedustofocusmoreonwhatwemightloseinsteadofwhatwegainforbeingsafe.Success-basedstrategiesfocusonpositiveoutcomes.Peoplewanttoseeclearlywhattheycanachievebyfollowingtheplan.Ifyouwanttogetyourpeopletobuy-intosafety,focusonwhattheygain.


Safetyenrichesalifethesameasasolidfinancialplan,goodhealth,strongpersonalleadershipskillsandagoodeducation.Noonewantstoseeanyonegethurtonthejob.Noonewantstolose a limb. Your people are already on your side on that point. Socreateasafetypartnershipwithyourpeople.

When you inspire your people, and value them, and trust them, andinvolvethemandengagetheminallaspectsofsafety,theybuy-in to safety for the long-term. When they take ownership, pride ensues. When pride is involved, standards are raised.

Youwantyournextsafetymeetingtobewildlypositiveand fun. Honestly, I’ll bet you’ve never heard anyone say, “Wow, that safety meeting was fun!”

Getridofthenegativeinfluencesofsafety.There’satime andplaceforstressingthenegativesideofnotchoosingsafety–adaythatcelebratessafetyisnotit.Keepsafetydiscussionspositive and upbeat. That means you must get rid of all negative influencesinthepresenters’materials.Nogruesomephotos,videosorstoriesofhorrifictragedy.Noinjury-survivor-turned-safety-speakerpreachinga“don’tdowhatIdid”message.

Makesafetyenjoyable.Keepitpositive.Makesafetyalluring.Only then will you get buy-in that lasts a lifetime.


SELECT A PROJECT MANAGER

Safety managers, advisers and supervisors are good at safety – you know, the telling you everything and anything you need to know about safety processes and procedures.

Theyaregoodatplanningsafety,strategizingsafetyandevenhelpingotherpeopletoexecutesafety.It’swhatthejobcallsforandit’swhattheyhavebeencertifiedin.Safetyprofessionalsare very good at delivering safety strategies and planning. That doesn’tmeanthattheyareexceptionalmeetingplanners.

Few safety managers are skilled in the fine art of negotiating conferencefacilities,speakerselection,lightingandsound requirements,registration,travellogistics,cateringselection,contractnegotiationormeetingroomset-ups.Meetingsare an art form – well, the good meetings anyway.


Someonemuststepupandtaketheleadfortheevent–evenifthemeetingisbeingorganizedbythesafetycommittee.YouwillneedaProjectManager.Thesafetymeetingisnotasocialeventwhichcanbeorganizedinalaxfashion.Itisaprojectthatneedsto be managed.

Inthesamewaythatyourcompanydoesn’trunbycommittee,someonehastobeCOOofthesafetymeeting.Noteveryonecanbeincharge.Thereisareasonwhythewholecompanyisn’trunbycommittee.Inthesameway,youcanhaveanorganizationaloradvisoryboardforyoursafetymeetingsbutyoucannot executetheeventbycommittee.Someonehasgottotake the lead.

ThereisnorequirementthattheProjectManagerbeasafetyperson.Infact,itispossiblethatnewlifecouldbebreathed into your safety meetings by letting someone outside of safety managetheprojectwhilecommunicatingwiththesafety committeeoradvisoryboard.Butwhomeveryouchoosefor thispositionmustbegivenfullcontrol.

AccordingtoBusinessTravelDestinations.com,ameeting planner(orinthiscase,theProjectManager)musthavethe followingskills:•verbalandwrittencommunications•organizationandtimemanagement•projectmanagementandmulti-tasking•self-starterandteamplayer•detailanddeadline-oriented


•calmandpersonableunderpressure•negotiation•budgetmanagement•Staffmanagement•marketingandpublicrelationsinterpersonal

skills with all levels of management.

If your safety manager has all of these skills and the time availableontheircalendartoorganizeamajorsafetymeeting,then by all means, let them do it. But remember, a safety meet-ingislikeaninvestors’meeting–approachedthesamewayyouwould with potential shareholders with the purpose of having thembuy-intoyourcompanyvisionandultimately,your corporatestock.Ifbigmoneywasontheline,itwouldnot be a meeting you would throw together willy-nilly.

Think seriously about your safety meeting as an investors’ meeting. You are asking your people to invest in the safetyprogramandtobuy-intothecorporatevisionforsafety.Youonlygetonemajoropportunityperyeartoappealtoyour “investors”fortheirbuy-intoyourvision.Iftheyrejectyourproposal, you will have to wait for another year for the same opportunityorexpendgreateffortoverthecourseofthenextyear trying to get their investment in safety.

A safety meeting, in addition to being a legal requirement, is alsooneofyourbestmarketingvehiclestogetyouremployeesto see safety as a viable investment for themselves. There is no


roomforanamateurefforttosimplygetthemeetingover with.Thissafetymeetingcouldbethespringboardtovaultyourorganizationforwardintoagreatercultureofsafety.Theset-upof the meeting is important.

TheProjectManagerneedstohaveagoodunderstandingofmanyparts.Youwillneedaleadertohelpyouorganizethiseventandmoveforward.Recruitaprojectmanagerforyoursafety meeting and support him or her at every opportunity. Onepersonmustbein-charge.


ENGAGE

The challenge in safety isn’t that they don’t know the rules; it’s that in a given situation, they simply make another choice.

Ifyouwantyourpeopletomakeanewchoice,youhaveto engagetheminadifferentway–onethatgetstheirattention.Youcan’ttalktothemifthey’renotengaged.

TurnonthespecialtyTVchannelslikeTheFoodNetwork andHomeandGardenTVandyouwillseeasteadyparade ofexpertshostingrenovationorrestaurant-turnaroundfix- itshows.Ineveryoneoftheseprogramsareseveralcommondenominators:•peoplewhodon’tcareaboutmuch•peoplewhoareapatheticanddon’tbuy-intotheirjob•peoplewhohavelosttheirpassionfortheworkthey

do and are simply going through the motions•peoplewhodon’ttakeprideintheirworkandthink “goodenough”isgoodenough.


People,overwhelmingly,aredoingjustenoughtonotgetfired.71%ofNorthAmericanworkersarenotactivelyengagedon thejob.Thisshouldbeawake-upcalltoeverysafetymanager.If7outof10employeesarenotactivelyengagedintheirwork,then7outof10workersarenotactivelyengagedintheirsafetyeither. How can you be engaged in safety and not engaged in what you are doing?Safetyhasbecomeavictimofworkplaceapathyandalackofpersonalpride.

Moresafetyinstruction,morerules,morecompliancemeasuresandmoreharpingaboutitisn’tgoingtochangeanattitudeofworkplaceapathy.Instructionandknowledgearenottheprob-lem. A personal buy-in is what is missing. Ownership and accountabilityaremissing.

Ifyoucan’tseemtomakepeoplecareabouttheirwork, how can you make them care about their own safety? First, youhavetomakethemcareabouttheirwork.Thattakesgood old-fashionedmanagementskills.Safetymanagers,whohavebeenschooledonlyinsafety,butnotinmanagementskills,areatadistinctdisadvantage.Butitdoesn’tmeantheycan’tdoit.Your safety meeting is a great opportunity to get people to stop beingdistractedfromthejobtheyaredisengagedatandtostarttofocussolelyonsafety–outsideofthejob.Makethemcareaboutsafety,andthereisagreaterlikelihoodtheywillcareaboutbeingsafeinthejob.Thatstartstocreateengagement.As management, don’t say that quality is important and then


contradictthatbyexecutingamediocresafetymeeting.Youcan’tjustassembleabunchofpeopleinaroom,throwsome coffeeanddonutsatthem,preachaboutsafetyingeneral terms,feedthemabunchof“don’tdowhatIdidmessages,”drown them in bullet-point PowerPoint presentations and say, “nowgoworksafe.”Low-qualitymeetingsequallow-qualitysafetyperformance.

Thepurposeofasafetymeetingistoacknowledgewhat theyaredoingwell.Letsafetyshine.Celebratethesafety workthatyouareproudof.Startaconversationbasedon thethingsyouadmireabouttheircontribution.Buildonthat.Theemployeeswillbegintoseetheirownworkinadifferentlight.Peoplewilldisengagefromajobthatoffersnopositive oratleastconstructivefeedback,noaccoladesandnogratitudeforthecontribution.

Observeatyournextmeetingtodeterminewhatyourpeopleactuallypayattentiontoduringthemeeting.Youwillnoticethatthey do not remotely seem interested in a slide photograph of aninspectionreportoraninvestigationdocument.Butputupaphotoofsomeoftheirownco-workersactuallyworkingonajobsite,andyouwillnotbeabletotearawaytheattentionofyourpeople.Peoplerelatetotheirownworkplaces,thepeopletheyworkwithandfamiliarfaces.Theydonotrelatetoanony-mousphotosfromtheInternet,genericvideosorpicturesofdocuments(why would you even think people want to see photos of paperwork?).


Ifyou’retakingpicturesofpaperwork(aPDF,aform,areportoracertificate)touseinyoursafetymeeting,youmightaswellannounceatthemeetingthatyouareoutofideas.Seriously,ifyou want them to pay attention, give them something to look at. Youhaveasmart-phoneonyourhiporinyourpocket.Spendahalf day and go out into the field snapping photos of your people doing it right. Post photos into your presentation slides. Con-gratulate them over and over again for the way they are doing it right.Forthemostpart99%oftheworkyoudoisdonesafely,so why is 50% of your meeting utilized to review what you do wrong one percent of the time?

Peopledisconnectwhentheycan’tfigureoutwhatisinit for them. How much fun do you think it is to meet only to be lectured and scolded for the way you do things wrong 1% of the time and have the 99% completely ignored? They’ve disengaged before they get there.

Photosofpeopleandplacestheyknowbringthemback. Familiarity breeds engagement. Get familiar. Get personal. Getthemengaged.Makethemproudtobeworkingwhere they work.

Onceyou’veidentifiedatleastonewayinwhichtheemployeefeelsprideabouttheircontribution,usethatpointasthespring-boardtotyingittosafety.Prideinachievementandprideinselfarecloselylinked.Ifyoucangetanemployeetofeelgoodabouttheircontribution,theyaremorelikelytobepreparedtobuy-into safety as a way of preserving their pride. This is more than anexerciseinrulesandregulations.Thisisaconversationto


bolsterpersonalworth–which,inturn,affectswillingness towantingtokeeponeselfsafe.Getanemployeeconnectedto personalprideandyouhavecreatedemployeeengagement.

Engaged employees with a high degree of self-worth are simply going to be better safety performers. They believe that their lives areworththeeffort.


MEETING LOGISTICS

LOGISTICS SECTION 1: Venue

Getoutofthedirtybackshopsnow!Ifyou’rehidingyoursafetymeetingsinthedirtybackshops,do you honestly think you are going to spark creativity in your employees and inspire them to want to buy-in to safety for themselves and their families?

Whenyoutakeyourpeopleawayfromtheirregularworkplace,youcanendupinjectingahugedoseofcreativity,camarade-rie and teamwork into your safety meetings. Where you hold yourmeetingscanbethedifferencebetweenahighly-charged,energeticaudienceoranaudiencethatisfallingasleepintheirchairs.Ifyouwanttochangethecultureofsafetywithinyourcompany,startnotwithhowyoudosafety,startwithhowyoucelebratesafety.

Areyoubringingstafftoanoff-sitelocationwithpleasantsur-roundingsandabusinessfocus(likeameetingsorconventioncenter)orareyouforcingthemtomoveasidethemachinery


and meet inside a dank, dirty shop. In other words, are you going to elevate safety to the same level as leadership meetings, management meetings and business unit meetings? Is safety going to get the respect it deserves in mainstream conference centers or will it continue to huddle in the back shop area?

Yourmessagethatwhite-collaremployeesmeetinlavishand/orprofessionalmeetingandconferencecentersbutsafetymeetingsareheldindismal,dirtyshopareasscreamsthemessage:wedon’t think safety is equal to our other departments. It is less-important and therefore not worth investing in. Even if your CEOhaspubliclystatedacommitmenttosafety,beingforcedtomeetintheshopareasorthedirtylunchroomsspeakscontrarytowhattheCEOclaims.

Achangeofscenery,awayfromtheregularmundaneworkplace,isagreatwaytoshakeofftherustandmakeemployeesfeel re-energizedandrefocusedonsafety.It’simpossibletosoundlikeyou’rescoldingwhenyouareintroducingnew,creativewaystousesafetytoyourownbenefit.Sometimesit’sjustgoodtoleavebehindtheregulargrind.Achangeinsceneryresultsin achangeinperspectivewhenexecutedright.

Moveyourpeopleintoaproperconferencemeetingfacility foryourbigsafetydays.Givethemspecificinstructionsthat nocoveralls,dirtybootsordirtyclothingwillbeacceptable foradayinthepubliceye.Gettheballcapsoffoftheirheads.Makethemdressup,cleanupandtakeprideintheirappear-ance.Marrypersonalpridetoyoursafetymeeting.Treatthem


like the ladies and gentlemen that they are. Ask for their participation.Youcanevengivethemalittleswag,allbased onsafetyofcourse.

Get them out of their routines of barely paying attention tosafetybriefingsindirtyworkclothesandelevatesafetytosomethingspecial.Ifyoudothesethings,youcanalsouse your safety day as a morale-building day. You raise the level of expectation.Youchangetheperspectiveofsafetyintheeyesof your employees. You make safety meetings something they WANTtogoto,notsomethingtheyHAVEtogoto.


LOGISTICS SECTION 2: Seating

Firstpoint–anditiscrucialthatyoudothis:under-setyourroom.Setoutfewerchairsthanyouareexpecting.

Have you ever wondered why airlines overbook their flights or hotels oversell their room capacity?It’sbecausepeople,eventhoughtheymayhavecommittedtoaflightorhotelroomandmay have paid for it, still won’t show. Airlines and hotels know thisforafactandpurposelyoverbooktheirflightsandtheirroomsbankingonit.Onlyoccasionallydotheygetcaughtandhavetoofferanincentivetobebumped.Forthemostpart,5-10%beingno-showsisalawoftheuniverse.

ThemonthlymagazinecalledOAG(OfficialAirlineGuide) offersstatisticsthatshow,onaverage,5%ofpeoplewon’tturnupfortheirflights.Inthehotelindustry,thenumberiscloser totenpercent(likelyduetoitbeingalowercostthanaflightthatpeopledon’tfeelbadlywalkingawayfrom).Eventhoughtheymayhavepaidinfullfortheirflightsorhotelrooms,somepeoplestillwon’tshow.Stuffhappens.So,knowingthat,why would you think that for your no-charge safety meeting (of which there is no financial obligation on the part of the attendee), every single person in your organization is going to show?Simplyput,they are not all going to show. Period.

No matter how many people say they will attend, anywhere from5-15%willnotshow.Don’ttakeitpersonally,simplyplanforit.Somewon’tshowbecausetheywerecalledinforaworkemergency.Somewillhavetokeeptheplacerunningsothey


won’tbeavailable.Somewillgetsick.Somewillhaveafam-ilyemergency.Somewillconvenientlyscheduleameetingthey“justcan’tgetoutof.”Somewillforget.Somejustwon’tkeeptheirwordandjustnotshowup.Therewillbeahostofreasonswhypeopledon’tshow.Don’tbeupsetbyit.Justbeprepared forit.Oh,andonemorething;donotexpectmorepeopletoshow-upatyourmeetingthanhavecommittedtoshowingup.

Ifyouover-setyourroomexpectingeveryonetoshow,you willhaveabigroomwithalotofemptychairs(alwaysatthefront–nearthepresenters).Thatwillcreatemorespacebetweenattendeesandthelearning.Themorespacethereistheless intimatetheroomis.Whentheroomlacksintimacy,engage-ment drops.

Emptychairsalsocreatedistraction.Nooneactuallythinksthatyouwillputoutmorechairsthanyouactuallyneedsoifchairsareempty,“theremustbepeoplemissing.”Thenthesleuthingison to figure out who is not at the safety meeting and why those who are absent get to skip the meeting but they don’t. And when people are busy trying to figure out who’s missing, they are not fullyengagedinthesubjectmatterofthemeeting.

Whenyousetoutjustundertherightamountofseating,youmake the room intimate. It’s tough for people to hide when they aresittingclosetoothers.It’salsodifficulttodisengagewhenyou’reincloseproximitytoothers.Donotleavealotofspacebetweenchairsandtables.Makeittightandcozy.Peoplestaymorealertwhenotherscanseethem.Createahigh-learningatmosphere by under-setting your room.


Donotstartaddingchairsatthebackoftheroomuntilall of the seats at the front have been filled. Use ushers if you have to–anexcellentjobforseniormanagerstobeseenplayinganactiveroleinasafetymeeting.(Who, really, is going to refuse their senior manager escorting them to an empty seat?) Point-ingpeopletothefrontoftheroomwillscarethedaylightsoutofthem.Employeesare,however,moreinclinedtomovetothefrontifoneoftheseniormanagersisactingasanusher.

Then,ifyouhavetobringoutextrachairs,onlybringouttheexactnumberyouneed.Ifyouneedfive,bringfive,nottenortwenty(asyoutrytoanticipateextras–thatprobablywon’tshowup)don’tsetthenewchairsatthebackoftheroom.Settheminsteadatthesidesoftheroomalongthewall,closertothefront.Thatway,ifyouneedmorechairslater,youwillstillhaveroomforthemandyouwillhavenotcreatedatrafficjamatthebackoftheroom–neartheemergencyexits.Itis,after all, a safety meeting, right?

Ifyou’regoingtoneedtables,whichyouwillifyou’reofferinganyrefreshmentsorexpectinganysortofdialogamongyourattendeesaftereachsession,thenconsiderthefollowingtableset-ups.

Theater Style–Chairsarelinedupinrowsfacingthestage.Therowscanbestraight,semi-circular,orherringbone(angledtowardthefrontoftheroom).Ifspaceisn’tanissue,it’sbesttooffseteachrowsothatdelegatesarenotsittingdirectlybehindone another. This works well if your safety meeting is under 2 hoursinduration.Thisdesignisalsousedtomaximizetheseat-ingcapacityofmeetingroomsorallowtheaudiencetobe


asclosetothespeakeraspossible.Itisnotrecommendedfortaking notes, referring to material in binders, or any event at whichfoodisserved.

Banquet Style–Guestsareseatedatroundtables–usually60”,66”,or72”indiameterandthisisthesetupofchoiceformostmealfunctions.Inaddition,it’sappropriateforsmallcommitteemeetings and small breakout or study groups involving group interactionand/ornotetaking. Crescent Style–SimilartoBanquetStyleseating,butthetwoorthreechairsinwhichdelegateswouldhavetheirbackstothestageareremoved,thusforminga“crescent”ofseatingfacingthe speaker.

Classroom Style–Long,narrowtablesarepositionedinfrontofrowsofchairsfacingthestage.Thetablesusuallyabutoneanother,althoughtablesthatextendbeyondthestageideallyshould be angled toward the stage in order to provide better viewing.This,likecrescentshape,isexcellentforallowingat-tendees to take notes, refer to material in binders, or work on computerequipment.It’salsothemostcomfortabledesignforverylongsessions.Itisnotthepreferredsetupforencouragingconversationamongattendees.

ConferenceStyle,U-ShapeorHollowRectangleshouldneverbeused for a safety meeting.

Soasyoucansee,thevenueset-upiscriticaltothesuccessofyoursafetymeeting.Viewtheexamplesbelow.


Chairsand/ortablesonthefloorshouldbenotlessthaneightfeetfromthefrontofthestageandnotmorethan15feetfromthefrontofthestage.Bydoingthisyouencouragemoreofanintimategathering.Yourpresentersarenotstand-upcomediansanddonotpickonpeopleinthefrontrow.Theyhaveapresen-tation to do and will stay on-message.

Theater StyleClassroom Style

Banquet Style

U-Shape Style

Conference Style

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✘Photosource:Professional Convention ManagementAssociation


LOGISTICS SECTION 3: Audio/Visual (Sound and Lighting)

InarecentmeetingIwasinvitedtospeakat,thehotelconfer-enceroomsoundsystemwasmalfunctioning–onlytwoofeightceiling-mountedspeakerswereworking.Thetwooperationalspeakers happened to be right over the head of the presenter whichmeansthoseinattendanceatthebackoftheroomcouldnothear.Tocompensate,thehotelturnedupthevolumehopingthatthesoundwouldreachthebackoftheroom.Accordingtothedecibelmeterapponmysmart-phone,soundwaspeakingconsistentlyat99dbunderthefrontspeakers.Atthatdecibellevelexposureshouldbelimitedtoonehourorless.Formy session,sinceIwasuncomfortablewiththeunevensoundlev-els,Ichoosetoconductmypresentationwithoutamicrophone.With only one hundred or so attendees and a small room, it was easy for me to do this. It was a safety meeting after all.

The purpose of having presenters is to deliver information thatcanhelpkeepyourpeoplesafe.Successfulcommunicationrequiresthatthepresenterbeseenclearlyandheardclearly byallattendees.Thisisameetingwherecommunication is paramount.

No ifs, ands or buts, hire a professional for this part of the event. AlthoughnooneevernoticestheA/Vguyswhentheydotheirjobright,itiscertainlynoticedwhenitallgoeswrong.Don’tleavetheproductiontoamateurs.Don’tleavethestagelighting,stageset-up,cablingandwiring,soundsystemsormicrophones


to amateurs. It is imperative that if you want to ensure that your safetymessagedrawsyourpeoplein,theexecutionofthesafetyeventhastobeflawless–especiallytheproductionelements:sound,lighting,staging,electronics,projectors/screensandITconnectionsforcomputers.

This is more than simply renting a sound system and lighting. Thisisensuringthatthereisatechnicianon-siteatalltimesworkingwiththepresenters,ensuringmicrophonebatteriesarenew,soundiscrispandclear,lightingonpresentersdoesnotinterferewithscreensandprojectors,PowerPointpresentationshavebeentestedandwork(inadvance)andthatyourpresentersandorganizingcommitteefeelconfidentintheirability.

Yourneedforcrisp,clearsoundhasotherreasonsaswell. Studieshaveproventhathighlevelsofbassfrequenciescan dullapersonsthinkingandlullthemintoatoorelaxedstate. Ina2005studypublishedintheInternationalJournalofOccu-pationalMedicineandEnvironmentalHealthclaimedthat“LowFrequencyNoisemightadverselyaffectandinfluencevisualfunctions,concentration,continuousandselectiveattentionandleadtoworkimpairment,particularlyincaseofjobsrequiringselectiveattentionand/orprocessinghighloadofinformation.”

Meetingsrequireattentionandprocessingofhighloadsof information, don’t they?LowFrequencyNoisescanimpairtheuptake of learning from your safety meetings. Hire professionals to deliver your sound. Ensure that you are getting the same tone ofvoicewithandwithoutthemicrophone.Andturndownthebass before you send your attendees into a sleepy state.


Lightingon-stageshouldbebrighterthantherestoftheroom,especiallywhenusingvideocamerastoprojecttheimage on-screen.Videoscreensshouldbeinthedarkcornersoftheroom. The stage should not be dark.

Donotturndownthehouselightstoseethescreen.Itcreatesatoorelaxedenvironmentwherepeoplecanbegintonodoff.Keepthelightsonandmovethescreenstothedarkestcornersoftheroom.Thepresenter(notthescreen)mustbelocatedcenter-stageandbrightlylitsothataudiencememberscan seehis/hereyesandhe/shecanmakeeyecontactwitheach audiencemember.Withouteyecontact,thereisnoconnection.

“Ifthelightingiswrong,theattentionofyouraudiencewillwanderandmuchofthevalueoftheprogramwillbelost. Ifit’stoodark,theaudiencemaybecomedrowsy;toobrightandtheglaremaybeirritating,”accordingtoSharronCampbell,CertifiedMeetingPlanner.

Butevenworseisturningoffthelightssothatattendeescanreadbadlyproducedslidesandthenturningthelightsback onagain.Onceyougodark,attendeeseyeswilladjusttothedarkness.Suddenlyswitching-onthelightscreatessurpriseandannoyance.Whenpeoplegetannoyed,theydisengage.Keepyourlightingconsistent.

Neverleaveyourpresenterinthedarkandcausetheattentionoftheparticipantstofocusonthescreens.Thescreensarenotthepresentation.Thescreensaremeanttoaugmentthepresenter’s


words. People don’t engage with slides. They engage with other people.Makesureyourlightingreflectsthat.Makeiteasyforthepresenterandtheattendeestoconnectwitheachother.

Testyourprojectorandlightingtogetherbeforethemeetingbegins.Makeadecisiontoleavethelightsonasthisisasafetymeetinganddarkeningtheroomcreatesatriphazardforeveryone of your attendees. The room must stay well lit. If your presenterchosepoorcolorcombinationsforslides,donot compensateforpoorchoicesbydarkeningtheroom.Itmakesyour meeting look amateurish.

Oncethelightsareset,don’ttouchthem.Besides,adarkroomisasafetyhazardandthisisasafetymeeting.


LOGISTICS SECTION 4: Catering/Refreshments

“The old saying, ‘The family that eats together stays together’ seems true. ‘The work group that eats together is safe together’ alsohassometruthtoit.”(MattForck,K-CrofIndustries|Transmission&DistributionWorldMagazine)

Companieswhoaregettingbusinessmeetingscateredhavemuchmoresuccessinoverallproductivity,aslongasthemenuischosenwisely.Hiringacaterercansetanicemoodforabusi-nessmeetingandhelppromoteyourcompanyintheeyesofyourguests.Amealcateredbyuniformedprofessionalsalwaysseems to taste better and appear as a higher quality than when servedbypeoplewearingT-shirtsandjeans.Foodprofession-alsalsosendamessagetoyourpeoplethatyoucareabouttheirhealth as well as their safety.

Hiringacatererforameetinggivesyoucontroloverthe eating habits of your attendees as well. When people go out forlunch,theymaymakepoorculinarychoicesbychoosingsugaryfoodsorcarbohydrate-stuffedfoodsthatcanmakethemtired.Althoughitisacheaperfoodoption,don’tloadupyourattendeeswithpastas,breadsoranythingthatconvertsto sugarsinthebloodstreamandcreatesamid-afternooncrash.It’sasafetyeventafterall.Safetyincludeswellness.Byprovidingfood,youhavetheoptionofprovidingahealthconscious choicewithoutalternatives.


Give your people breaks often and ensure that the refreshments arere-stockedduringsessions.Keepthemfedandwateredandtheywillhavenoreasontoexperiencedrowsinessandlowblood sugars. That means their level of alertness remains high, providedyou’renotfillingthemfullofsugarysnacks.


SHORTEN THE PRESENTATIONS

IamafanofTEDTalks.IfyouarenotfamiliarwithTED(Technology,EntertainmentandDesign)Talks,theyareaglobalsetofconferencesundertheslogan“ideasworthspreading”.

TEDconferencesbringtogethertheworld’smostfascinatingthinkersanddoers,whoarechallengedtogivethetalkoftheirlivesin18minutesorless.

Theworld’sgreatestthinkersget18minutes.So, why do your amateur presenters get 60 to 90 minutes to make one or two points in safety?

Whatiscrucialtounderstandishowpeoplelearnandwhattheycaneffectivelyrecallfrompresentations:mostlytheyrememberthe beginning and the end. The middle of a presentation is forgotten first – if it is even grasped at all.


Presentersneedtobemadeawareofwhatprimacyandrecencyareandhowitaffectslearning.“Primacy”iswhatpeoplere-membermostvividlyfromthebeginningofaspeech.“Recency”iswhattheyrecallfromtheend.Theleastamountofrecallisfrom the middle of presentations. But that’s the part where non-professional presenters get bogged down – the middle.

Amateur presenters who do not deliver presentations over and over again, are unable to fine-tune their presentations editingforbrevity,timingorhumorsegues.Infact,whengiven60to90minutesoftimetofillduringasafetyevent,theywillover-prepare with fillers, padding and irrelevant material. That is why you often see presenters get bogged down in the middle oftheir90-minutepresentations–becausethere’sjusttoomuchstuff.Theyareonlyabouthalfwaythroughtheirdecksofslideswhensomeonegivesthemthe5-minutewarningtostart wrapping it up.

Whenthathappens,theyskipoverdozensofslidesandrushthroughtheclosing–thepartpeoplerecallbestofall.Becausethey gloss over the end, they never really get past the middle, makingtheirfinalpointweakandineffective.Meanwhile, attendees don’t know what they are supposed to do with the half-informationbecausethefinalpoint,thecall-to-action, was rushed over.

Could a presentation on Fatigue Management or safe driving or hand-washing be made in thirty minutes or does it really, honestly take ninety minutes to make the point?


Safetyeventsarenotaboutfillingtime.Safetyevents,stand-downs and meetings are about ensuring that you engage your attendeesinsafetyandhelpthemtomakebetterchoices. Figureoutwhatissuethatneedstobeaddressed,andselect yourpresentersbasedoncontent,nottheamountoftimethey are able to speak for.

Don’tforceyourpresenterstofillmoretimethanisnecessarytoeffectivelyaddressanissue.Iftheyneed30minutestoaddresstheproblem,don’tmakethemaddfillerandflufftostretchitouttoa90-minutepresentationjustbecauseyou’vescheduled90-minutes.You’rebetteroffgivingyourpeopleaone-hourbreakafterarivetingpresentationtothinkabouthowtheycanapplywhattheylearnedinsteadofforcingthemtositthereandbedistractedbyfluffyandtime-fillingmessages.

Ideally,foreachhourofyourmeetingorevent,youwould constructyourpresentationsasfollows:•presentation(30minutes)•discussion(10minutes)•tablereports(10minutes)•break(10minutes).

Discussion–referstocreatingadialogattheindividualtables(6-8participants)ofhowtoeffectivelyusetheinformationpresented.Itcreatesinteractionandbuildsownershipinthefindings. It drives home the learning and if the attendees know thatthispartofthemeetingiscoming,theyarewillbemore


engaged as they are going to have to do something with the information.Theyarenolongersimplypassivespectatorsatsafetyevents–theyareparticipants.

Table Reports – one table at a time, a representative from thetablerisestoofferpracticalstrategiesfromtheDiscussion. (Youmightconsidertheuseofamicrunnermovingfromtabletotabletoensureeveryonecanhearthesuggestions).

Thentakeabreakfortenminutesforajobwell-done.Rewardthemfortheirworkandallowinformaldiscussiontotakeplaceat the refreshment tables or even hanging outside with the smokers.Meanwhile,makesureyoumakeyourpresenter availableneartheback-of-the-roomaswelltohandleamoreinformalQ&Asession.

GetridoftheformalQ&Afromthestageattheendofeachpresentation. A Question and Answer session at the end of a high-energy or highly-engaging presentation is like driv-ingyourcaratsixtymilesanhourdirectlyintoabrickwall.Itbrings a highly-engaging and highly entertaining presentation toascreechingthud.Questionerscan’tbeheard.Questionsareusuallyself-servingandendupgoingoff-topic–allwhilethosewho take no interest in the question wait to go to the bathroom oroutforasmokebreak.Q&Asessionsareselfishandholdthemeeting hostage.

Althoughclarityiscrucialtosafety,rarelyisaquestionasked inaQ&Asessionthateveryonewasthinkingatthesametime.A better suggestion is to arrange for the presenter to make their


waytoaplaceatthebackoftheroomneartheentranceandalsoneartherefreshmentstoentertainspecificquestions.Peoplefeelmoreencouragedtoaskaquestionone-on-onethantheydotoriseinthemeetingandtobejudgedbyalloftheirpeers.

Also,byremovingQ&Asessionsfromtheprogram,youkeepthemeetingon-trackandpreventitfromgoingofftherails andturningintoabitch-session–everymeetingplanner’snightmare.Goodlucktryingtogetthefocusbackonsafetyoncethewhiningandcomplaininggetsthechancetotake rootinyourmeetingroom.Oneortwomalcontentscanhijackyour agenda and hold it hostage for the rest of the day and any attempttowrestlebackcontrolwouldbeseenasunderminingthe employees.

Ifyouwanttoconnectbetterwithyourpeopleandtokeep theenergyhighintheroom,removetheQ&Asessionsfromtheformalprogramandmovetheminformallytothebackoftheroom.Youcanalwayscheckwithyourpresentertoseewhatquestionstheywereaskedatthebackoftheroomandifthereissomething that is important, make sure you prepare an answer company-wideandgetitintothehandsofallemployees.

Makeeachpresentationslick.Makethemshortandpunchy.Forceyourpresenterstocutdowntheuseless,extraneous information and streamline their presentation.

Onemorethingwhenitcomestoshorteningpresentations:getusedtoshorteningthemupnow.Recentlyintroducedintomeetingsarenewsmart-phoneappslikeTimeVote.Theseapps


arechangingmeetingsastheyaretakingplace.TimeVoteis,as the name implies, a voting app for attendees to determine whether the speaker is boring and irrelevant and will have to wrap up early or whether the speaker/presenter is engaging and theaudiencewouldliketohearmoregivingthemmoretime.

It’slikeeitherbeingX’dononaTVTalentShoworbeingmovedaheadtothenextround.Soon,youwillhavenochoiceastohowlongyourpresentersgeton-stage.TimeVoteisacompletelynewexperienceinpublicspeaking.Ifeverybodylovesthespeakerandthesubject,theaudienceslowsdownthespeaker’stimertogivehimmoretime.Ifthesubjectorspeakerislesspopular, he or she will have to wrap up early. That means that nomoreboringsafetypresentationsiftheaudienceisjudgingyou as you go.

AppslikeTimeVotearecomingandwillsoonbeamainstay ofmeetings.Sogetaheadofthechanges.Beproactive.Shortenthepresentations.Raisetheenergy.Getfocused.Selectengagingpresenters.Makeitfunandrelevant.Peoplewillstartto look forward to safety meetings.


PICK YOUR PRESENTERS LIKE PRO SPORTS

Boring presenters are not born – they are made by the example of boring presenters before them. Over time, bad meetings have devolved into something worse caused by over-exposure to the mind-numbing parade of PowerPoint armed, personality-deficient, monotone drones.

PowerPoint is the seventh pit of hell. It’s Corporate Karaoke – the word-for-word, sing-along regurgitation of every thought in a presenter’s head posted on a slide in tiny font type.

Safetymeetingsarecrucialtotheongoingsafetyofyourem-ployees.Butyoucan’tjuststickrandomthingsinyoursafetymeetingsandthink“well,wehadourmeeting.”It’snotaboutfillingatime-slot.It’saboutmakingsurethatyouadvance anewideaandcall-to-action.Yourorganizationneedsto becomebetter,notjustbetter-informed.


Not everyone is ready to present on the big stage at the stand-downorfull-staffsafetyevent.Thatmeansyouaregoingtobesayingnotoalotofco-workerswhofeelthattheyshouldbe presenting at the safety meeting. But, in the same way you wouldprotectyouremployeesfromphysicalharm,youmustprotectthemfrommentalharm.Pickyourspeakerslikeyou’repickingplayersattrainingcamp.Youonlygetonechancetodothisright.Pickyourpresenterswithextremecare.

Youhaveathemeorobjectiveforyourmeetingstoallow youtocullthosewhosepresentationsdon’tfit–andyoucanblame the theme for turning them down. Only people who are relevant to the event get to speak at weddings – the rest are guests and are happy to be invited. Not everyone gets to make a toast. In the same way, you don’t invite everyone to speak at yoursafetymeetingjustbecausetheymightbeinapositionofsafety or a position of power. Even if they think that they have somethingtosay,itdoesn’tmeantheyshould–especiallyifthere is a theme for the meeting and they don’t add a lot of valuedirectlytoit.

A safety meeting is not a forum for the whole management team to speak. It is a forum for management to prove that they arecommittedtosafety–bytheirattendance.Allseniorman-agement should be present at all large safety gatherings and be willingtositamongthestaffsimplybecausesafetyisimpor-tant–notbecausethey’vebeenaskedtospeak.Afewmem-bers of the senior management team might be asked to address the meeting at the very end giving their thoughts and lessons learned from the sessions during the day. They should only need 10 minutes at the end to wrap up the day.


Carefullycraftthelistofpresenterswhowillspeak.Thinkabouthowtheyaddpowertothetheme.Haveaclearpurposetoyourmeetingandalwaysstayontopic.Thatmeansnotime-fillingYouTubedrunkdrivingvideosespeciallyifthemeetingtheme istripsandfalls.Noerrantgraphsandchartsriddledwithbul-let-points.Nosidemessagesorpointlesscartoonsjustbecausethey may be loosely related to safety. Always be vigilant when usingsourcedmaterial.Youdon’twanttobefacingalawsuit forunauthorizeduseofCopyrightedphotosandimages.

Ifapresenterfeelstheycannotaddressthemeetingwithout theuseofphotosfromthenet(allinformationontheInternetiscopyrighted),theyshouldbeexcludedfrompresenting.Andno“wingingit.”Ifyouhaveapresenterthatthinkstheycanjustwing-it,removethemfromtheagendaimmediately.Simplerule:iftheywon’tprepare,theywon’tbethere.

Safetymanagersneedtostepupandtakecontrolofwhoandwhatgetsexposuretothemindsoftheemployees–andprotecttheirpeoplefrombeingexposedtoalackofpreparation,con-flictinginformation,Copyrightinfringementsorjusttoomuchinformation at any one time. Presentations need to simplify.

People don’t engage with PowerPoint. People engage with other people.Soyou’renotchoosingapresentationforyourpeople–youarechoosingthepersonwhowillconnectwithandengageyour people through the presentation. Presentations are not boring–presentersare.Ahigh-energy,engagingpersoncandeliverarivetingpresentationonthemostmundaneoftopics.However,aterriblepresentercanmakeeventhemostengagingsubjectterriblyboring.


PowerPoint slides do not make a great presentation. An en-gaging personality makes a great presentation – regardless of whethertheyuseslides.PowerPointhasbecomethemessagewhen its intended use was as a supplementary medium to help youcarryamorepowerfulmessage.Now,PowerPointismis-usedbylazypeople–peoplewhowon’ttakethetimetocreateaworkplacesafetycommunicationstrategythatengagesthehearts and minds of employees.

The overall strategy for safety meetings should be a requirement to avoid boring your people. Period. But that’s tough when the subject-matterandevenworse,thepresenters,areboring.Youmakeitsomuchmoredifficultforemployeestoengageandstaysharpifyouinsistonthrowingeveryboringstatistic,figure,graphandperformancechartthatyoucanlayyourhandsonattheminonemeeting–andexpectinganylevelofrecall.You’vegottomakesafetysexy.Ifit’snotfunorengagingforattendees,theywon’tbuy-inandwillmentallycheckout.

Ask this one question before asking someone to speak at your safetymeeting:does this speaker/session add a large degree of value to what we want to accomplish with this meeting or is it going to simply fill time?Concentrateonthe“largedegreeofvalue”part.Ifyourpresenterorsessiondoesn’taddalarge degree of value; save them for another event.

Getting others on-board with simplifying their presentations to bemoredull-resistantshouldbeeasy:planning.Andyoumustplanit:thetheme,pointsofdiscussion,contentandconsistency


ofmessage.Ifyoucanplanasafetyprocedure,anescapeoramusterpoint,thenyoucanplanasafetypresentation.Makesurethateachpresentercomesupwithatleastthreeactionablestrategies for the attendees to take away. Ensure that the take-awaysareincludedinthepresentationandthattheydon’tgetsobogged down in useless side-babble and padding that they have torushthroughtheaction-stepsattheend.

Toensurequalitycontrol,everypresentationmustbevetted beforeitgetstothelivestage.Haveasmallcommitteegothrougheachpresentationbeforeitgoespublic.Edit,edit andeditsomemore.Getridofthefluffandpaddingandgettothemeaningfulstuff.Nooneeverfeltcheatedthatthesafetymeeting was too short.

Now,forPowerPoint:Onethoughtperslide.Noendless sentences.Nocorporatekaraoke.Veteachpresenter’sslidesforbrevity.Useamaximumof3linesoftextperslide.Onethought.Bettertohavefiveslidesthatthepresenterspeakstoeachforaminute instead of one big, loaded slide that the presenter speaks to for five minutes. Keep it fresh. Keep it moving. Use lots of photos–butnotofgruesomeinjuries,severedlimbsorac-cidentsdownloadedfromtheInternet.Userelevantphotosofyourownemployees,yourownincidents(onlyifyouhaveto)andyourownjobsites.


Inkeepingwiththethemeforthischapter,herearethethree actionstepsyoucantakenow:

1.Selectpresentersfortheirexpertisedirectlytiedtothetheme.Iftheydon’tspeakdirectlytothethemeorthe objectiveforthemeeting,theydon’tspeak–atleastnotatthis meeting. It should be readily apparent to the attendees whyeachpresenterisspeaking.

2.Meetwithyourpresenteratleastthreedaysinadvance to go through their presentations – editing out useless chatterandalsotogooverthethreetofiveactionablesteps.Prepareawebpageoftheactionstepstolaunchthedayofyourmeeting.Theactionstepsfromeachpresentationmustbepreparedinadvance–notonthemorningofthesafety meeting. Keep everything on the theme. Be prepared toargueforeditsandbepreparedforsomeresistancefromthepresenter.Sticktoyourguns.Everypointmustspeakdirectlytothetheme.

3.Prepareawebpagethatyoucanannounceatthemeet-ingforeachattendeetofindthelistingofactionablesteps.Youcannotwaitforafewdaysafterthemeetingtogetthepointsuponlinebecauseforeverydaythatpasses,thelearning is forgotten. Ensure the web page is live the day beforethemeetingandannounceitatthemeetingaftereachpresenter.(“Alloftherelevantnotesandactionstepscanbefoundimmediatelyafterthemeetingtodayonourwebpagewww.ourcompany.com/safetyaction.”)


NOT ALL KEYNOTE SPEAKERS ARE EQUAL

An outside safety speaker, utilized correctly, can turn around any preconceived notions of boring safety meet-ings. The right keynote speaker can bring a high-energy, highly-entertaining, and valuable close to your safety event.

Heorshecanhitallofthehighpointsoftheeventsduringtheday, wrap them in a series of personal safety leadership strate-gies and send your employees home at the end of the day with a memory of a great safety day – even if the earlier presentations might have been a tad dry in their presentation style.

Anoutside,third-partyspeakercanhaveamucheasiertimees-tablishingthemselvesasatrustedadviser,andexpert.Thisgivesthe keynote speaker the advantage to bring people to a higher emotional level, and have it sustain for a longer period of time. Employees are able to get motivated, and feel more empowered while at the same time, tying that feeling to a safety meeting. Keynotespeakersarethosewhousedifferentpsychological


methodstorelatetotheiraudience,andthenexplainwhattheyneed to do and why they need to do it. A motivational keynote speakerisverypopularatbusinessconventionsandorganiza-tionswheregettingthemembersralliedandexcitedaboutwhattheydoisakeytosuccess.(wiseGEEK.com)

Not all keynote speakers are equal – not by a long shot. Not everyspeakerisrightforyoursafetymeetingjustbecausetheymarketthemselvesasa“safety”speaker.

Therearethreetypesofsafetyspeaker:

The Technical Speaker–Thinkofparticulates,ergonomics,lift-ingtechniques,etc.Thesearetheinstructionalandeducationalspeakers. The material may be a little dry but all of it needs sayingatsomepoint.Largelybasedonprocessesandproce-dures, a small venue with smaller numbers of attendees is best fortechnicalspeakers.Thisallowsformoreinteraction.Itmaynotalwaysbeterriblyengagingbutagoodtechnicalspeakercanmakeitengaging.Itisstillnecessarythatyourattendeesgettheeducation.Workshopsandbreakouteducationalsessionsarethebest venue.

The Leadership-based Speaker –Thesespeakersfocusonbuildingthepersonalleadershipcapacityofeachattendee.Theyaimtoshiftleadershipcapacityinsafetybyshiftingperspective.Somemightcallthemmotivationalsafetyspeakersalthoughthat is an unfortunate and limiting term. It is a presentation that involvesshiftingexistingattitudesaroundsafetyandlikelytotieinsoft-skillsandvalues-basedconversationssuchasfamily.


These speakers will appeal to personal values to improve aware-nessaroundsafetythroughamixtureofstory-telling,informa-tion/educationandhumor.Largemeetingsessionsworkbest.Youarebesttoopenorcloseyourmeetingwiththesekindsofspeakers - also known as safety keynote speakers.

The Injury Speaker–Thesespeakersareaccidentsurvivorsemploying a don’t-do-what-I-did, fear-based message. The overwhelmingfunctionofthesespeakersistoofferlivingproofoftheconsequencesofnotbeingsafe.Somearehorrific,gut-wrenchingstoriesandotherstakealighterapproach.Someinjuryspeakershavemovedbeyondjustrelivingtheirstoriestooffersafetystrategies.Unfortunately,manysimplyscareattend-eesintocompliancebyrelivingtheirordeal.Itisaone-offmes-sage,meaningoncethespeakerhasaddressedyourattendees,thereislittleelsetheycanoffer.Largesessionsnormallyworkbestforthesetypesofspeakers.Wordsofcautionthough;donot start your safety meeting with this kind of speaker.

You want to engage a safety speaker who is able to take his or herstrategiesforsafetysuccessandwrapthemaroundthetheme of your meeting. In other words, the message has to be abletobecustomizedandtailoredspecificallytoyourthemeand your industry.

Youwantyourpeopletostepupandbecomeaccountableforthe safety in their own lives. You want them to buy-in to your safetyprogramandbecomeateamplayerinworkingtowardsahealthier,saferworkplace.Youwantyourpeopletobegintoask


themselves questions like, “Why would I want to engage in risky behavior that could put me in harm’s way and impact those whom I love and care about?”

Earlierinthisbook,Iofferedstrategiesforvettinganon-pro-fessional safety presentation. Well the same philosophy applies to outside speakers too. No outside safety speaker should ever be hired unless they have been vetted – viewed a video of their presentationtoanotheraudienceandthatyouhavehadalongconversationaboutwhethertheycanhelpyouaccomplishyourgoals for your safety meeting. You should be able to ask ques-tionsandyourspeakershouldalsobewillingtoapproachyourmeetingasapartnershipwithyou–tohelpyouaccomplishthepoints you want to.

Thereshouldbemorethanjusttheconsiderationofpriceinde-terminingtheselectionofasafetykeynotespeaker.Yourabilitytoaffordthespeakerdoesn’tautomaticallymakethemaperfectchoiceforyoursafetymeeting.Doyourduediligencebeforeengagingtheservicesofakeynotespeaker.

Yourkeynotespeakerisbestutilizedattheendofasafetyevent.Ideally, your speaker will have attended all of the sessions during the day and be able to wrap up the events of the day and wrap themaroundyourobjectives,yourthemeandhisorherstrate-gies or insights.


Infact,ifyouwanttohaveasafetymeetingthatyourpeopletalkaboutforsometimetocome,considerbreakfastandagreatkeynotespeakerasyoursafetymeeting.Breakfastat7:30AM,twoshortpresentations(15minuteseach)frommanagementandakeynotespeakerforanhourisanexcellentsafetymeeting.

Youcanmakesafetyfunandenjoyable.


THE BIGGEST THING SAFETY MEETINGS DO WRONG

If your people are showing up at safety meetings with no writing or note-taking materials, well then they’re not showing up prepared to learn. They are showing up to sit through it.

Thisistheonethingsafetymeetingsdowrong:theydon’t asktheirpeopleorcreateanexpectationthattheirpeoplewillactivelylisten,learn,engage,rememberandrecallwhattheyhavebeenexposedto.Andifyou’renotaskingyourpeopletowrite down what you are presenting to them, you are going to strugglewithsafetyperformance,plainandsimple.

Yourpresentershaveinvestedagreatdealoftimeandeffortinpreparingameaningfulpresentationforyourpeople.Muchthought went into building presentations designed to help the entireorganizationovercomeasafetystumblingblock,or,at theveryleast,offerupsomeinformationthatwillimprovetheefficiencyandproductivityofyourpeoplewhileengagingthemto work safely.


You,yoursafetycommitteeandyoursafetymeetingmanagerhavesettheagenda,plannedoutthespeakers,encouragedthe speakers and presenters to put their hearts and souls into theirpresentations,allowedthemtospendcountlesshoursdeveloping appropriate and relevant PowerPoint materials, set upscreens,projectors,movedalloftheslidepresentationstothumbflashdrives,testedthelaptopandprojectorsystemtoensure everything works and have set the lighting in the room tooptimizethepresentationlearning.Nowseriously,are you going to let all of the preparation go in one ear of the attendees and out the other ear?

Where else in the organization would you find people gather-ing together to meet and nobody is expected to take notes? There isn’tanotherdepartmentthatwouldtakethetimetoorganizeameeting,inviteattendees,setanagenda,preparetheparticularsoftheagendaincludingdepartmentalpresentationsandnothave a single person take a note.

Isn’t there a purpose for having the meeting? Isn’t there a serious investment of time and effort made by your presenters? Didn’t you spend a great deal of money and time setting up your room for maximum learning? But you didn’t think to put pens and note-pads into the hands of your people to write things down? You might as well not bother.

Look,ifit’ssupposedtobeserious(andsafetyalwaysis),youmustcreateanexpectationthatyourpeopletakeisseriouslyaswell.Lettingthemskatebywithoutactuallyparticipatinginthemeetingislikegivingthemapatonthebackforjustshowingup


atthemeetingbutnotexpectingthemtolearnanything.Peoplewhoshowupanddon’tbothertocommitanythingtowritingarenotactuallyattendingameeting;theyarewatchingotherpeople attend a meeting. You are turning your people into safety meetingspectators–notparticipants.Iftheydon’tparticipate,theydon’tengage.Andbytheactofsimplywritingnotes,theyare engaging.

Takingnotesaidscomprehensionandretention.Researchers(Howe,1970,inLongmanandAtkinson,1999)foundthatifimportantinformationwasnotfoundinnotes,ithadonlya5%chanceofbeingremembered–a95%certaintyofbeingforgot-ten. So, you are going to ask your colleagues to put their hearts and souls into preparing for your safety meeting only to have 95% of what is presented be tossed in the trash on the way out of the meeting?

Ifyouwanttounderstandrecallpercentagesasaresultof activelytakingnotes,considerthesenumbers:•after1day54%wasremembered•after7days35%wasremembered•after14days21%wasremembered•after21days18%wasremembered•after28days19%wasremembered•after63days17%wasremembered.

The better option for note-taking and the easiest is by taking good old-fashioned, handwritten notes in a notebook or on a


notepad. Although smart-phone use is more prevalent in the workplacetoday,itisstillnotasafeoptionineveryworkplace.CellphoneEMPbursts,thedistractionofcheckingFacebookwhenyoushouldbecheckingnotes,andthepossibledistractionofaphonegoingoffinthemiddleofahigh-focustaskareallgoodreasonswhycellphonesonthework-sitearenotalways a good idea.

Butpenandpapercreatesnodistractions,electronicpulsesorinterruptions.Aswell,asafetynotebookisjustthat–asafetynotebook. It does not have a dual purpose and will not get lost amongcompetingappsanddistractions.Also,thereisnoneedto remove gloves to write in a notebook but PPE will have to be removedtouseatouch-screen.

Inadditiontotheold-schoolargumentsinfavorofpenandpaper,Cornellprofessor,WalterPauk,authorofHowtoStudyinCollegeandcreatoroftheCornellStudySystem,arguesthathand-writtennotetakingisveryimportantsinceithelpsre-callinformationbetterlater.Researchsuggestswhenmeeting/classattendeeswriteoutnotesbyhand,theyactivatepartsofthe brain that involve thinking, language and working memory. Duringtheactofphysicallywriting,thebrainfiltersandorga-nizes–whichhelpspeopletorecallbetter.

If your meeting attendees do not take notes, their brains still transfer what they hear into memory but without notes, the brainisnotgoodatdecipheringwhatisimportantinallofthat


stored information. And, Professor Pauk points out, “If you are typingyournotes,youdon’tgetthesameprocessingadvantagesaswhenyouarewriting.Soinall,handwritingnoteshelpsyouremembermore.”

Ifthereisnoexpectationtotakenotes,thereisnoexpectationto learn anything new. Absolutely insist on paper and pens for everymeeting–thatincludestailgateandtoolboxmeetings.Raisethelevelofexpectationofengagementandwatchthemrise to the new level.

When you get your people into the habit of taking notes at safety meetingsandtocarrythosenoteswiththemduringthejob,andtheyaremorelikelytobegintonoticethingsthatcouldbeimproved:bothprocessesandhazardidentification.Theactofnote-takingcan,overtime,turnyourpeoplefromspectatorsinto“noticers.”

Thepurposeoftheperfectsafetymeetingistodevelopand present plenty of take-home value. But how can they take it home if they can’t remember it?

Makesureyournextmeetinghaswritingmaterialsforpeople to take notes. Pads of paper, notebooks and pens handed to themwhentheyarriveforthemeetingindicatesanexpectationto take notes and get engaged in the sessions – sessions designed to ensure their safety. They will pay better attention if you ask themtomakenotesforthemselvesandthenofferthemthe tools to do it.


Rightnow,they’rejustsittingthroughit.Youhavenoothersignsofactiveengagementotherthanmaybethey’relisten-ing.Butyoucanseeataninstantwhenpeoplearetakingnotes.Whentheytakenotes,itencouragesmorenotetaking.Whentheytakenotes,theyareactivelyengagedinthesessions.

Infact,oncepaperandpenshavebeendistributed,eachpre-sentercanencouragepeopletomakeanotebysimplysaying,“Writethisdown.”Whenaskedtowritesomethingdown,peo-plewill.Buttheycan’ttakenotes,writedowntheirownideas,connectwiththespeaker,engageinthelearningnorparticipatefullyinthemeetingsession,iftheyhavenowaytocommitsomething to paper.

Youmightalsoconsiderhavingyourcompanylogoandsafetysloganprintedoneachofthenotebooks/padsandhandedtoyourpeople.Then,ateachsubsequentsafetymeeting,remindyourpeopletobringtheirwritingmaterialsandchecktoensurethateachattendeehasbroughttheirmaterials.Ifthesame peopleareforgettingtheirmaterialsateachmeeting,youcantake that as a sign that they are not buying-in to safety and considerremovingthemfromthepartsofthejobthatcallforhigh safety attention.

Considerhard-covernotepadsforyourpeoplewithan elasticizedloopforapentocliptoitespeciallyifyourpeople aregoingtotakenotesatsafetytoolboxandtailgatesessions.Makeitsmallenoughtofitinpocketsofjackets.


Donotmissonthispoint.Peoplewhotakenotesengagebetterandlearnbetter.Theyalsorecallbetter.Peoplewhoareengagingthemselves in safety meetings don’t find the meeting boring.


CREATE A SAFETY CAMPAIGN TO FOLLOW-UP

Myfatherandtwopartnersstartedasmall-townradiostationbackinthe1970’s.Ourradiostationonlybroad-castfromsixa.m.tomidnightatwhichpoint,the stationwentofftheair.

But, not every one of our listeners went to bed at midnight. Infact,therewerealotofovernightshiftworkers,taxidrivers,restaurant and bar workers and the night owls. People were still upandaboutbetweenmidnightandsix.

Onceourstationsignedoffforthenight,ourlistenerswereforcedtogotootherarearadiostationstoacompetingmessage.Listenersdon’tstoplistening.Theyjusttuneintosomebodyelse.

Inthesameway,whenthesafetymessagestopsbroadcasting,yourlisteners(employees)golookingforsomethingtofillthespace.Peopledon’tstoplisteningjustbecauseyoustoptalking.


Intheabsenceofasafetymessage,youmakeitpossibleforcom-petingmessagestotakehold.Youcanneverstopbroadcasting.

Justpriortotheintroductionofdistracteddrivinglegislation,marketingandadvertisingishigh.Compliance,evenaheadofthelegislation,ishighaswell.Butoncetheexcitementdiesdownandthemarketingfrequencyreduces,peoplestartpickinguptheirphonesincars.

Whensafetymarketinggoesup,safety-incidentnumbersgodown.Plainandsimple,thisworks.Advertisingcampaignsfordistracteddriving,drunkdrivingandseatbeltsarealsogreatexamples.

Safetypromotionforcespeopletoconsciouslythinkaboutsafetyinthemoment.Astaticbillboardsignatthesideofthehighwayaskingyoutobuckleuphaslessofaneffectthanawarningontheradiothatthehighwayyou’redrivingonhasacheck-stopahead. When people are talking about safety in the moment, it gets your attention.

Thinkingthatafew“SafetyNow”signsinyourworkplace will get buy-in from your employees is foolish thinking. Afewgenericsafetypromotionsignsarenotasafety campaign.Itwillnotgetemployeestobuy-intosafety.


Youmustmakesafetypromotionacornerstoneofyoursafetyprogramifyouwanttoimprovesafetyperformance.Ifyouhaveneveraskedyourpeopletochoosesafety,theywon’tlikelyhave done it voluntarily. Rules alone don’t get people to want to choosesafety.Rulesonlyforcethemtodojustenoughtonot get fired.

Hazardwarningsignsdonotqualifyassafetypromotion. Hazardsignagewarnsofalocalizedpotentialdangerand warningofdangerisnotthesameaspromotingsafety.Safetypromotionencouragespeopletomakeconsciousdecisionsinfavorofsafety.Rules,processesandprocedurescannotbe classifiedassafetypromotion.

Safetypromotionandsafetymarketingcampaignsarecrucialtosuccessfullytransitioningyourworkplaceintoacultureofsafety.Therefore, following up a safety meeting with a safety promotion campaigncanbejustthetickettodrivehomethemessageandsink that message deeply into the minds of your employees.

Youcanhaveasafetypromotionmessagethatchangeseveryyeartocoincidewithyourannualstand-downoryoucanhaveanewsafetypromotionmessageeachmonthtosupportthetheme for the monthly safety meeting.

Forexample,duringNovember,yoursafetymessagecouldbe“SafeWinterDriving”inpreparationforwintersnowcominginNovember.Yoursafetymeetingpresentationsshouldfocusonly


onitemsthatrelatedirectlytoSafeWinterDriving:wintertiresoncompanyvehicles,sightlinesandblindspotsduetosnow,defensivedriving,courtesytootherwinterdrivers,etc.AsessiononSlips,TripsandFallswouldnotrelatedirectlytoSafeWinterDrivingandsopresentationsonthissubjectwouldbeoffthetable for November.

Meanwhile,tocoincidewiththepromotionofSafeWinterDriving,membersofthesafetycommitteecouldbedoingvisualinspectionsofemployeevehiclesforsnowtires,wiperconditionandburnedoutlights.TheycouldensureemployeeshavewinteremergencykitsintheircarsandmaybeevenhandoutwintersnowbrusheswiththecompanylogoandSafeWinterDrivingtheme printed on.

Createasafetycampaignthatreinforcesthethemeofthe meeting. Create giveaways and items with the theme and focusforeachmeeting.Peoplearecreaturesofhabitandgetintoroutineswhenitcomestowork.Thefirstsnowfalloftheyearalwayscreateshavoc.Suddenshiftsinweatherormovingtoanunfamiliarjob-sitelocationcreatesafetyissues.Anytimecompaniescompresslongerhoursintofewerdays,itupsetstheroutines.Addinanabsenceofsafetypromotionandyou’vegotanenvironmentnotfocusedonsafety.

Getspecificwithyoursafetycampaigns.“BeSafe”isnotaspecificmessage.Noris“SafetyFirst”oranyoftheDr.Seusskindergartenizedmnemonicsprevalentinsafety.Safetymes-sages must be timely, relevant and appropriate. And don’t worry


thatyouoffendsomepeoplewithtoomanysafetyreminders.It’s only people who don’t buy-in to safety that get annoyed by safetymessages.Thatshouldbeaclueyouneedtopickupthesafety promotion.

Supportthepowerofyoursafetymeetingswithfollow-upsafetypromotioncampaigns.Drivethemessagehome.


END MEETINGS ONA HIGH NOTE

Every safety meeting should come with the assumption that most of your people are doing it right. If you want to emphasize and reinforce the right behaviors in your safety program, reward and recognize the people who are doing it right.

Andnevermiss.Ever.Sinceyouhavealreadyassembledallofthe people whose behaviors you want to align, at the end of your safetymeeting,recognizethosewhoaredoingitright.

Bringyoursafety-championson-stage(orthefrontoftheroom)and present them with rewards, awards and possibly even swag fortheircontributionsandresultsinsafety.Showerthemwithpraiseandaccolades.Makethemtheexampleyouexpectoth-erstoliveupto–withoutsayingthatofcourse.Thiswouldbeanexcellentplaceforyourseniormanagementteamtocontrib-ute to the safety meeting by saying a few words and making a presentationtotheawardrecipients.Itestablishesaconnectionbetweencorporatevaluesandsafetybuy-in.


This, above everything else, is the most important part of the safety meeting. This is where you get buy-in from your employ-ees:whenothersseeoneoftheirownbeingrewardedfordoingjustalittlemorethaneveryoneelse.

Theawardscanbeforlongevity,butyoumightwanttorethinkthatstrategy.Safetycowboysmayhavenotbought-intothesafetyprogramandthroughsheerluck,havemanagedtoavoidanincidentoftheirown.Youwouldnotwanttobeforcedtorecognizeyearsof“safety”(andyouwouldmaketheairquotesifreferringtotheminfrontofothers)fromyoursafetycowboysjustbecausekarmahasn’tcaughtupwiththemyet.Besides,whenyourecognizeyearsofsafety,yougivetheimpression thatitisnotnormaltobeincident-free.Butitisnormaltobeincident-free.YoustarteachdayatZero–it’syourstoloseatsome point during the day.

Youwouldbebetterofftowatchforspecificbehaviorsfromyourpeopleandrecognizetheminsteadofhavingastafffeelthattheyareentitledtoreceivearewardforsimplyhittingamilestone–eventhoughtheymaynotembraceorbuy-intosafety. When you set up your awards based on time-frames for safety,thefocusgetsplacedongettingtoanumberinsteadofbuying-in.Theyareverydifferentmindsets.

You should have a lineup out the door of employees to recognizeateachsafetymeeting.Ifyoudon’thavemorethan ahandfultorecognizeateachmeeting,thensomethingiswrong.You’vesetthebartoohigh.You’vemadethecriteriaforinclusiontoodifficult.You’remakingthemhavetoworktoo


hardtoachieve.Whenthegoalseemsinsurmountable,peoplewilljustgiveupandgobacktotheiroldwaysandoldbehaviors.It has got to be attainable – easily. You are rewarding behavior – notachievement.

Inordertomakeiteasytorecognizeyoursafetyleaders,consid-eropeningthefloortonominationsforsafetyawardsfromthestaff.Letthemhaveavoiceinwhotheybelievedemonstratesthevaluesandbehaviorsyouexpectgoodsafetyperformerstohave. Peer-based awards are far more powerful than manage-ment-awardedrecognitionanyway.Whenyoumovetheawardsdowntothefront-lines,youletthecultureflourishwithrecog-nition and reward. As a side-benefit of peer-based nomination andreward,youcreateapeer-basedpolicingculturethatlooksafteritself.Whenemployeesarewatchingeachother,lookingoutforeachotherandrecognizingtherightbehaviors,withoutmanagement intervention, you build a very tight team.

Donotallowanysafetymeetingtogobywithoutsomeone beingrecognizedfortheircontributionsandbehaviorsinsafety.Youwillhavesquanderedyourbestopportunitytoreinforcetheverybehaviorsyouexpectfromyourpeople.Youcanspendinordinate amounts of time banging your head against the wall tryingtogetyourpeopletocomply–oryoucansimplyaskyourpeople who they think is deserving of a safety award for their commitmentandactionsinsafety–everysingleday.

Safetymeetingsarenotforumstotalkdowntoyourpeople–unlessyouwanttocontinuetochasethemintocomplianceatevery moment. A safety meeting is supposed to be a two-way


dialogaboutsafety.Ifyou’resimplyexpectingyourpeopletositthere while you information-dump all over them, you’re missing the point of the safety meeting.

Get rid of surveys and evaluations at the end of your safety meetings.Sendyourpeopleelectronicsurveysaftertheyhaveleft.Thesafetymeetingisacelebrationofsafety.Itisnotacon-sultingforumtofixwhatiswrongwithyourmeetings.Letthemengageandbuildtheirmotivation.Letthembeinspiredbythesessions,thepresenters,theteamattitudeandthecelebration ofsafetyawardsandrecognition.

Endeachmeetingonahighnote.Rewardtherightbehaviors.Makethatrecognitionpublic.Impressupontheothersthatyourecognizewhenpeoplemakeaneffortandrecognizeit.Donotmiss on this part. Go out with a bang.


CLOSING

Safety is an attitude – but Occupational Health and Safety is a compliance mechanism of rules, processes and procedures.

Thesolidfoundationofeveryworkplacesafetystrategyneedstobetheunderlyingattitudesoftheworkersthatarecreatingtheincidentonthejob.

Ifyoucanaddresstheirunderlyingattitudes,youcanget themtomakedifferentchoices–betterchoices.Whentheymakebetterchoices,yougetbettersafetyresults.Butyou’llneverhaveasuccessfulsafetystrategyinyourworkplace without addressing the underlying attitudes.

Anotherimportantelementtoconsideristheattitudeofservice.Thereisn’tajobintheworldthatdoesn’tservesomeoneelse–includingthejobsofthesafetymanager,adviserandsupervisor.Thatmeansthatregardlessofwhatyourtitlemaybe,thejobis


service.Ifyouunderstandthatthejobisservice,thenyoualsounderstand that as a safety manager, you work for the employees – they don’t work for you.

Thejobofanyoneinsafetymanagementis,likeasportscoach,toputtheiremployees–theirplayers–inapositiontoscore.It’sassimpleasthat.Youcoach,mentor,instructanddemonstrateinanefforttogiveyourpeopletheskillsandattitudestheywillneedtodothejobwellandsafely.

Encourageyourpeopletostartthinkingforthemselvesbecausewhen they start thinking for themselves, they’ll start making betterchoices.Thesafetymeeting,eventorstand-downpro-videsplentyofopportunityforstafftonotonlylearnaboutsafetybuttodiscussit,personalizeitandinternalizeit.Theresultisclearerthinkingandbetterchoices.

Thechoicesemployeesmakeinsafetyarepartoftheongo-ingprocessfordevelopingasafetyattitude.Compliance-basedsafetydoesn’tencourageyourpeopletothinkforthemselves.Minimumstandardsdon’tencourageyourpeopletoconnectwiththeirconvictionsforsafety.Youwillneverchangesome-one’sconvictionsbysimplyappealingtotheirlogic.That’swhydata dumps at safety meetings are not engaging. That’s why, regardlessofthenumberofsafetymeetingsyoucurrently conduct,safetyperformancedoesn’tseemtogetanybetter. Thebestyoucandoishopethatsafetygetsbetter.


You’rebuildingasafetyprogramonhope–notconviction. Youhopethey’llgetit.Youhopethey’llmaketherightdecision.Youhopethattheycanbeperfect.Youhopebybeingperfect,youcangettoZeroandstaythere.Butyoudon’tknowforsure.

Asasafetyprofessional,yoursafetyconvictionshavetoshow.Theyhavetobeevident.Thoseconvictionshavetoshowupinyoursafetymeetings:inhowtheyareorganized,howtheycreateexpectations,howtheyengageandhowtheyencourage,inspireand motivate others to safety. If your safety meetings are falling short in this regard, you are not putting your people in a positiontobeperfect.

Sureit’salotmoreworkbutit’swheresafetyneedstogo.Youcan’tletpeopleskatethroughthesafetymeetingswithouttak-ingownershipforwhattheylearnandthepracticalapplicationof that knowledge. Every employee needs to be in the moment at safety meetings. They’ve got to engage. Employees will engage insafetyindirectproportiontohowwelltheirmanagersengagethem–especiallyatsafetymeetings.Ifthemanagersdon’t engageemployees,employeesdon’tengageonthejob.

StartdefendingtheZeroyoustartedthedaywith.Makesafetythewayyoudobusiness.Safetyshouldn’tbeanadd-ontoanalready-establisheddepartmentorworkplace.Safetymustbecomethefoundationontopofwhichyoubuildeachdepart-ment.Safetyshouldhaveanequalseatattheboardroomtablealongwithfinance,sales,marketing,andhumanresources.


EverythingthatyoutalkaboutinyourcompanyshouldrevolvearoundsafetyifyouwanttobuildacultureofsafetyinwhichZero is the end result.

Safetywillonlyevertakethatseatattheboardroomtablewhenithasearnedtherighttobethere.Soraisetheprofileofsafety.Makesafetysocompellingandsoengagingthatsafetybecomesthefirstcorporatevaluethatseniormanagementcommitsto.

What will you do today to advance the cause of safety? What will you do to help your people to buy-in to safety? What example will you set at your next safety meeting? Will you be perfect in the organization and execution of your safety meetings?

KevinBurns–Consultant/Speaker

ZeroSpeak Corporation14-3125thAve,Suite150CochraneABT4C2E3

Toll-Free1-877-BURNS-11Local403-770-2928

www.kevburns.com

The Perfect Safety Meeting - Kevin Burns

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