| The lesson of habituation is that the safety message must be continually varied |
Here
are some ideas that have been proven effective:
- Use posters or employee handouts that stress
the point you are going to make. Supporters of behavior-based
safety programs have found that frequently changed posters that
include visual interest are likely to have real impact, whether
they show people doing things right or suffering the consequences
of doing something wrong. (Many in the safety field prefer to
show workers doing the right thing). The materials are most effective
if they are used in conjunction with safety meetings, as part
of an ongoing education and awareness program.
- Ask team members to share something they have
done for safety. Encourage participants in a safety meeting to
tell the group of
an experience (such as a near miss) that raised their awareness
of a hazard, and discuss ways to learn from the incident, so as
to increase safety.
- Invite workers to devise safety slogans. Some
years ago, the Ford motor company invited workers to provide rhyming
messages to encourage seat belt use.
Here are three of them:
The man who thought
“Seatbelts useless”
sits over there --
his smile is toothless.
—H. Glass, Shipping Dept.
Think of those who died in cars
and how their families felt.
How much trouble can it be
to tug and click a belt?
—Mary Sims, Assembly Dept.
Mary, Mary,
quite contrary,
Just wouldn’t buckle up, you know.
She had a fuss with a Greyhound bus
now she’s planted all in a row.
—B.J. Hills, Purchasing Dept.
The rhymes were posted on four sequential
signs—with public recognition of those who contributed them.
- Encourage written commitment. Involve the
group in discussing
a safety behavior that needs attention, and encourage them to
commit to following it. Suggest that everyone signs a card, such
as the one shown, to make the commitment in writing.
Signing the card should not be
compulsory. Assure everyone
that it is a personal commitment, not a company contract. With everyone’s
agreement, post the cards on a bulletin board for a limited time,
where everyone can see them.
The more involvement and personal choice associated with the exercise,
the more interest is likely to be generated.
- Provide information. We all relate better
to things we can measure. Most people are interested in signs
that state “187 days without a lost time injury”.
Tony Alzamo, a safety manager with Autocad Ltd., in Baltimore,
Del., has found that team members are interested in knowing that
they are not alone in observing a safety rule. They won’t
feel foolish behaving in a certain way if they know that everyone
else is doing the same.
Tony has improved safety compliance by drawing
attention to
at-risk behaviors.
Safe Behavior Promise Card
I promise to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .every day. Check to see that I am keeping my promise on . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(date).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .
signature
He posts signs like the following:
“During the month of February, we enjoyed 99.2% compliance
with the safety glasses rule.”
“In March, just about everyone watched their step and walked
carefully. I only saw one person running in the passage.”
“I find that my colleagues like to conform to what they see
to be the culture in the plant,” Tony reports. “If it
seems that just about no one is wearing safety glasses in the shipping
area, (perceived as a low risk for eye injury area), it is hard
to get workers to comply, even though the rules call for them. But
if I can post figures to show that everyone wears safety glasses,
they will wear them too.”
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