Safety First—: Management Commitment, or Owning What You Sell

January/February 2003

In the September/October 2002 issue, I reviewed the 15 essential points of an effective safety program. Here, I begin exploring each of those points in greater detail, with the first point being the importance of management commitment to any safety program.
   To set the stage, consider this example: There are several cable TV channels that only sell products. Invariably, the show’s host excitedly explains why you should buy fake diamond rings, Brady Bunch commemorative plates, or lifelike porcelain dolls that don’t resemble any kid I’ve ever seen. But no matter what, the host eventually moves on to another product. So it’s clear that the show is really not committed to the product—it’s committed to making the sale. 
   Unfortunately, the same often happens with company safety programs. An owner or manager might call the employees together (maybe after the premiums for workers’ compensation insurance have doubled) and give a locker-room speech on the importance of safety. The speech might include the company’s commitment to a safe workplace and how everyone needs to get behind the program. As an incentive to reduce injuries, perhaps the company will start rewarding employees with Brady Bunch commemorative plates. 
   Though the manager might do a great job of selling the program, the employees still might not buy it—and if the employees don’t buy it, then the program doesn’t work. 
   That, in turn, means injuries will continue and workers’ compensation premiums will continue rising while employee morale and company productivity will suffer.
   Over the years, I’ve seen and tried many different ways to pitch a safety program to employees, especially on why they must each buy into it for the program to work. And I’ve seen just about all of those safety pitches fail. Why? Because you can’t sell something you don’t own.
   A successful safety program doesn’t start with hard hats, machine guards, or eye protection. It doesn’t start with OSHA regulations, posters, back belts, or gloves. It starts with caring. When employees understand that their company’s management cares about their safety, those employees become motivated to participate in the safety program. That seems to be fundamental human nature. We’re more motivated to care about ourselves when we clearly understand that others truly care for us.
   There’s a big difference, however, between simply telling employees that you care and proving it. Stated another way, the difference is between selling them a set of dos and don'ts and selling them on your safety program. 
Before you as an owner, manager, or supervisor can sell a safety program to employees, you must first be totally committed to it. That means safety isn’t a slogan or a poster. It means you must practice as well as personify it every minute of every workday. 
   For instance: You would sooner leave the office without your pants than without your hard hat ... every safety suggestion goes on the top of the pile on your desk ... safety training is ongoing, not just during breaks in production ... you insist on knowing about every accident, injury, bump, and bruise and expect to receive recommendations on how to prevent them ... you constantly praise workers who do their jobs safely or help others to do so before you offer praise for anything else. 
   In short, by proving through your actions that you care about the safety of your employees, you’ll then “own” the beginnings of an effective safety program. That’s what is meant by you can’t sell something you don’t own.
   How do you know if you truly exhibit this caring commitment for safety? You ask. 
   One ReMA member told me how he learned such a lesson. He recalled a time when safety training was scheduled at the end of certain workdays. The workers, tired and eager to go home, would be pulled in after their normal quitting time for the training. After many months of this, the member delivered his “I care” speech. 
   When he was done, there was silence. Then, from the back of the room came the rarely heard voice of a very shy worker. “If you really care that much about our safety,” said the worker, “then you’d train us at the beginning of the day, when we’re fresh, then start production.” 
   Though these words hit hard, the company did what the shy worker had suggested—and the result was a successful safety program.
 
—Mike Mattia, director of risk management for ReMA

In the September/October 2002 issue, I reviewed the 15 essential points of an effective safety program. Here, I begin exploring each of those points in greater detail, with the first point being the importance of management commitment to any safety program.