Working Through The Safety Change Cycle

In 2004, I wrote a fun and enlightening book that walks and talks the reader through a cycle of safety-related change.  I modified Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ work which takes everyone though a journey of denial, struggle, examination, and commitment.  It’s a book that uses four main characters on the journey and reveals how people can work through each of the stages or cycles of change.  If you are looking for a fun and informative way to help your leaders embrace and work through your next safety-change process, please follow this book link.

Below is the Foreword from Dave Johnson, Editor, Industrial Safety & Hygiene News.

What David Sarkus gives us in these 120 pages or so is a clever modern safety parable. Sure, it's about an organization going through change. Employees are uncertain about where they stand and what happens next. Trust is in low supply, and the employees would rather just be left alone. Sound familiar?

We can all relate. David's short tale is deceptively simple, though. It's fun to read, no doubt, and you can go cover to cover in an evening. But don't miss the layers of lessons that lie beneath the easy — flowing dialog.

In 2000, Malcolm Gladwell wrote The Tipping Point, a national bestseller describing how small word-of-mouth buzzes can grow — or tip — into mega-trends. Well, David's story shows how an organization tips the scales in favor of safety. How you can create a safety "epidemic" — to use Gladwell's term — that spreads through the workforce. One of the lessons David shows us is that it's not the plant safety director's job to tip the scales, lead the charge, or infect the workplace with an enthusiasm for safety.

Kandu Corporation aims to create a cultural revolution, a culture of positive change that will be healthier for employees and the company. That's too big of an assignment for the "safety man" or "safety woman." The Tipping Point explains that you need the help of Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople. In our story here, the safety director is the Maven, the technical expert who lends ideas, solves problems, and provides direction. All the main characters are Connectors. They've worked in the plant for years and have built well-connected networks of friends. Connectors are essential to transmit your safety message; they're agents that spread the safety epidemic. Finally, Connie Committed, the main character, is the indispensable Salesperson.

Through Connie, David shows us one of the bottom-line truths of safety — it's largely about influencing. Selling. And through Connie, David provides us with many of the attributes needed in a champion for safety. Connie is honest, upbeat, candid, confident, sharing and open. She's got guts and strong convictions. She can admit to her shortcomings, invites opinions and even dissension, and she wants to listen. One of Connie's strongest traits is her empathy. She senses what others are thinking. Dan the resister calls her a mind reader. Empathy is essential to furthering the cause of safety. Finally, Connie is thorough. She's very observant of others. Does her homework and research. Knows what she's talking about. And has a great sense of humor to boot.

You Can Champion Change! also gives us lessons in human nature, lessons we all can relate to and apply to the very people-oriented work of safety. Yes, people are always comfortable with the way things are, especially when there are no serious problems. Yes, change never comes easy — it's difficult, inconvenient, and frustrating. “People hate it”, as one of the characters says. And yes, it pays to be positive. Catch people working safely and commend them. Rather than slam them for taking a shortcut or ignoring a procedure, correct them. Coach them. The tone of David's book, along with some of the safety ideas and events, point to another truth of safety — You've got to have fun.

To me, the most valuable lesson of You Can Champion Change! is the power of conversation. From beginning to end, the book gives us a series of down-to-earth conversations, all about safety. To paraphrase one of the characters: "We want to talk about safety in everything we do."

A plant can have the best machine guards, ventilation systems, safety rules and training programs. But safety doesn't become a matter of habit and doesn't settle into an attitude unless everyone is talking about it every day. On almost every page of this book, the characters engage and encourage each other about safety. They probe and ask questions about safety, about feelings and concerns regarding safety. And they listen.

So how did David develop his ear for dialog? Back in the late 1990s, he wrote an article for my magazine, Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, where he introduced the characters Joe and Willie. Joe and Willie were named for two grunts popular in Bill Maudlin's famous World War II cartoons in the Stars and Stripes News. David captured their earthy spirit and applied it to workplace safety experiences. That's when I first thought David might head off to Hollywood to write scripts instead of being a safety speaker and coach. It wasn't long after that I offered him the job as ISHN's Technical Editor, doing my part to keep him in the safety field.

I think it's in David's blood to connect with working folks. His dad worked for U.S. Steel in a mill outside Pittsburgh for decades, then became a record-setting door-to-door insurance salesman for the next 20 years. David's success as a safety speaker, author and coach comes from that same feel for people, empathy and a sense of conviction.

Just read You Can Champion Change! and find out for yourself.

Dave Johnson
Editor
Industrial Safety & Hygiene News

“Not-Invented-Here” Debilitates Safety Advancement

Many of us have been stalled or blocked from progressing with newly formed ideas, thoughts, programs or processes because a particular group or leader did not think of it first.  Perhaps an innovative safety approach was put forward in an inopportune way and was viewed as very “external to others” and was brought to an abrupt halt.  Well, all of this is about the “not invented here” (NIH) phenomena. 

Although NIH is commonly talked about in management circles, its theoretical and empirical underpinnings are somewhat shallow and vague.  Nonetheless NIH is real and occurs regularly.  And even though there are individual and group biases that support our understanding of NIH, the attitudinal and behavioral antecedents and consequences are not well understood.  Nonetheless, NIH continues to hinder the advancement of safety performance.

Although the antecedent and consequent conditions of NIH are not well founded, we can rely on common psychological constructs to help us better understand the “whys” behind NIH.   In general, individuals and groups may want to protect their knowledge and self-serving identity within their organizations so specific roles and positions can remain without disruption.   Groups may want to maintain specific relationships with others that could be threatened by the NIH phenomena.  And still more, there may be a desire to control particular outcomes that could be threatened by external sources of innovation or advancement.   Such outcomes advanced by external sources and NIH may harm the careers or positions of various organizational members. 

In other ways, we can see the harmful outcomes of NIH on three different levels that uniquely hinders safety advancement on a broader scale and scope.   

In associations within our own profession and practice, competing thoughts and schools for advancing safety can offer a healthy vetting process.  Unique ideas, concepts, principles, and solutions from external sources quite distant from regularly accepted safety-related sources may offer possibilities not otherwise known. 

In our organizations we need to acknowledge that NIH exists even in the best of firms.  And we need to remain open to evaluate and accept innovative thoughts and ideas from other groups within our companies and from those outside of our industries, organizations, commonly accepted disciplines, and practices. 

As individuals we need to recognize that there are many schools of thought and approaches to improve safety and we must remain open to use a wide variety of supporting ideas, disciplines, and approaches.  These sources will help us to remain innovative and engaging for our organizational members, and help our leaders to continually advance our cultures for safety.

Astute and intellectually honest leaders need to recognize, and at times, incentivize innovative advancements regardless of the source, the distance, design, or dissimilarities from those that we are most used to, and which bring us the most comfort.   Any school of thought that brings too much comfort will end up bringing too little advancement.  In contrast, difficult ideas, concepts, and constructs that usher in discomfort, may be the most beneficial in bringing about the most creative and impactful types of safety advancement.

Leaders must become appropriately open to external innovations in order to unlock the doors to more advancement through increasingly creative solutions.


Antons, D. and Piller, F.T. (2015).  Opening the Black Box of "Not Invented Here": Attitudes, Decision Biases, and Behavioral Consequences.  Academy of Management Perspectives, 29 (2), 193-217.

Safety Benchmarking is Over-Hyped

Benchmarking can uncover gaps. I happen to believe benchmarking against other companies is over-hyped. I don’t believe as much of it goes on today as in the past. Today many major corporations see safety and health as a competitive advantage, and EHS insights and technology are locked down and protected more and more.

Instead, benchmark against yourself. Compare region versus region, facility versus facility, locations versus locations. Look at the scorecards or scoreboards you have set up internally.

Your assessment should include the climate and culture for safety through perception surveys. Climate is the perception, the mood, the feeling that you have when the ship being tossed about. It’s a bit superficial but it’s a reflection of your culture for safety. It can change like the weather, or with new programs and celebration events. It’s a snapshot in time. It’s what’s happening right now.

Culture runs like a submarine. It is much deeper. It turns slowly and deliberately. It can take five to seven years to change the movement of a culture. The beliefs and value structure of an organization are anchored deeply.

You can also set up a model for progression. Many companies do this. They break down the evolution of a safety culture into phases or stages. Various analyses, data inputs, survey results, audit findings and the like position a culture at one of the stages. This is communicated to everyone. The safety vision often encompasses the journey from stage one to stages three, four or five, however many you decide to have.

Through sensing sessions and interviews, plus surveys and simple observation, you can reassess what Peter Drucker calls the “critical factors of focus and concentration,” in our case on safety. “Performance requires clear focus and narrow concentration,” said Drucker. “Whenever an institution goes beyond a narrow focus, it ceases to perform,” he said.

Teddy Roosevelt on Safety Influence

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

Contemporary research suggests that we can better influence the safety-related opinions, attitudes, and actions of others when we have a large degree of expertise and trustworthiness.  In other words, credibility helps leaders become more persuasive.  However, the individual who is trusted, is more influential than the person who is not trusted; even though he or she may be viewed as an expert.  Interesting, isn’t it?  The bottom line – when it comes to influencing safety-related attitudes and actions, trust is more important than expertise. 

If you want to build trust, you have to truly care about people by creating the right climate and culture for safety. You have to spend time with others helping them, and working with them to improve safety, regularly. You have to “walk the talk” with resources and resolve – being consistent in what you say and ultimately do. 

As leaders, we need to build trust without our personal and self-seeking agenda getting in the way.  We can’t rely on threats, coercion, or punishment for substantial change.   That will largely dissolve trust. 

Don’t worry about how much you know or may not know, communicate to those around you the importance of working safely for themselves, their co-workers, and their loved ones.  Work with them and "get dirty" with them.  Speak from your heart because you care, and because you’ve built-up your side of the trust ledger. 

Showing care and concern is about working diligently to help others remain safe and whole.  Your hard work with others will build trust and help you to become a more influential safety leader.   

Dunder Mifflin and Your Safety Teams

There’s a quote from the TV Sitcom, The Office and Steve Carell who stars as Michael Scott, Regional Manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch that goes something like this, “Yes, I love teamwork because that means I don’t have to take all the blame.” 

Teams can make a real difference in your own safety success but it requires that everyone contribute. But please don't hurry your teams along ― your organization has to be ready and well prepared to make the leap. Safety teams can’t flourish and succeed without the right dynamics, support, knowledge, and shared responsibilities.

1.  Team Dynamics.   Whether it's an accident investigation team or a hazard abatement team — the dynamics of the group is the foundation for greater outcomes in terms of productivity and reduction of losses.  Real teams have:  a) clear objectives and clear work tasks to complete; b) they have well defined responsibilities and boundaries for their work; and c) they've been given the authority to operate as a safety team.  All of these facets move the group in a direction that helps them to become self-managing, self-sufficient, and increasingly self-sustaining. 

2.  Emotionally Driven.  Teams also have to be given clear direction that connects the head and heart.  People have to believe in their minds that what they're doing is important and worthwhile but they also have to believe it in their hearts.  Members have to be driven emotionally — they have to be excited about possibilities, the cause, and about working with others who have the same goals.  And they have to realize what there are doing makes a difference in the lives of others.  

3.  Synergy and Balance.  Each group has to have the appropriate number of people and the right mix of skills.   If your safety teams are too large it is difficult to move though tough decisions but if they are too small the diversity of views and talents is not there.  These same people have to work well together, complement each other, and push each other to make the most of their abilities.  Some workers may have great technical knowledge, say in electricity, and others may have great communications skills.  

4.  Organizational Support.  Safety teams work in a larger arena or context than what they may readily understand ― they work within their own companies, and their own organizations.  Work teams are made up of individuals who need to be recognized for their particular safety-related efforts and achievements.  And at times, your own safety teams need to be rewarded and recognized based on their distinct accomplishments.  Recognition and rewards also need to be appropriate for your culture and must be aligned with your vision for safety. 

5.  Great Coaching.  The best of players on the best of teams need great coaching to meet their goals.  Great coaching requires great communications.  It requires honesty and openness regarding the team's direction and focus.  It also necessitates, that at times, team members be pushed outside of their comfort zones, to take risks that offer greater rewards relative to safety achievements.  Great coaches are patient yet persistent — pushing their team to new levels of success — not allowing them to give up.
 
I've seen safety-related teams make a big difference — but you have to have the right culture and right team dynamics in place.  Safety teams can move your organization to another level of achievement but their assembly, development, and ongoing performance has to be based on a number of the key elements like those addressed above or your teams will not reach their desired level of success or may fail completely.  Even if you’re not ready for self-sustaining safety teams, the elements highlighted above can help your organization move towards greater safety-related teamwork. 

Apathy and Safety - Don't Lose Them Now

About 15 years ago, I read an important engagement story regarding a line worker with a major automotive manufacturer in the United States. The story evolved from an organizational push to gain more involvement from their workers at a time when it was critical.  An employee spoke up somewhere along the way and stated, “You used my body for 40 years and paid me well, but you could have used my mind for free and chose not to use it.”  Sadly some organizations remain stuck in such a position when it comes to worker engagement and advancing safety.

Over 25 years ago, I was working for United Airlines as a young safety professional.  It was there where I first learned the importance of employee involvement and engagement.  If we left people out of an important safety-related process - shame on us.  And it was at United where I first learned the depth and breadth of getting people directly involved in improving safety and reducing related losses.  What great experiences I had there!

Influencing attitudes and actions is really important but it’s even more important to first capture the hearts and minds of your workers.  And it needs to start by improving the work environment – the materials, tools, equipment, and facilities.  At times, I believe we leave some of this out because it seems so mundane and simple.  Maybe even a little boring.  However, I believe these are critically important components of our cultures that have to be continually addressed and improved.  

Here’s a few simple and straightforward ways to get your associates and end-users involved and engaged in ongoing safety improvement that will make an impact.
 
1.  Involve workers as early as possible in the specification and review processes so that safety can be built-into materials, tools, equipment, and facilities.

2.  Ensure safety professionals, operations personnel, key stakeholders, and the workers “maintain a seat at the table” so appropriate voices can be heard and timely actions can be taken. 

3.  Communicate discrepancies or revisions in design and specification processes so that questions that might surface later can be addressed in open and honest ways.

4.  Help everyone understand the failure history of particular equipment, components, tools, and how those failure histories will be controlled or eliminated.

5.  Educate and involve workers in human factors and ergonomic measures that will make the job more productive and safer.

6.  Involve workers in near-miss reporting, hazard reviews and identification of those hazards for appropriate abatement or elimination. 

7.  Follow-up and correct hazards or specification issues as quickly as possible.  Communicate your proposed actions and timelines, especially if a given process is protracted.

If you aren’t consistently getting workers and end-users involved in improving facilities, tools, and equipment, you’re losing out on a great opportunity to advance safety and to build trust. 

Build safety into your work as early as possible.  Abate hazards and concerns quickly because the downward slope from apathy to cynicism is a steep one.  And it’s cynicism that forms a substantial barrier to the kinds of trust your organization will always need to maintain its traction.  

Go, Get, and Grow for Safety

Many organizational leaders don’t spend nearly enough time with their workers.  Yes, I know we’re busier than ever but there’s nothing more important than the investment of time you make with your people.  I strongly believe that 20 minutes a day with your workers will prove its worth many times over, so let's get going.

Go.  Spend quality time with workers in their environment.  Get to know them personally and get dirty with them.  As Jack Welch has stated, you have to learn to “wallow with your people.”  As leaders, when we spend important time with others, we can find more common ground than uncommon.  Spending productive time with workers helps to build rapport, trust, and improves communications.  Going to the space where people work is so important and should not be minimized. 

Get.  We get more when we give more of ourselves.  This can never be understated.  Meeting with workers on their turf, and getting their perspective is a set-up for sustainable success.  Meeting with people in their space allows us to gain respect and obtain greater amounts of unfiltered and objective information about the good and bad regarding safety. About what’s working and not working.  About what we need to continue doing and what we need to stop doing.   It’s nice to hear “good things” about safety but hearing about the “bad things”, and acting upon them when necessary, allows us to make the greatest gains.   

Grow.  When we spend quality, face-to-face time with our workers and associates, we ensure the growth of others as safety leaders, safety champions, and safety coaches.  Talking about cloning oneself!  Engaging workers in safety, listening to them, and providing them with appropriate resources assures that we have safety leaders in places where formal leadership can’t always be – where the work gets done!  Formal leaders can’t be everywhere at all times, but growing our workforce as leaders and safety coaches helps to enable greater forms of positive safety change.   

What are you waiting for?  Invest 20 minutes a day.  Go to their space, get them engaged, gain their perspective, and grow your workers as safety coaches and safety champions.