March 2011 Safety Message

Not about the End Result but How we Achieve the End Result helps us Eliminate Injuries.

In our business we all deliver results which are time related. Whether it is in the head office or a project site, nearly everything we do is measured against time. For the most part our business is all about results but it is not the end result that is important but knowing how we or our people achieve that end result is most important in eliminating injuries.

Before any manager or supervisor asks their employees if they achieved their daily task, that same manager and supervisor must know how those same results have been achieved. Not knowing the simple work practices your workers undergo each and every day means we do not know the acceptable levels of risk our employees engage in to deliver those results.

The levels of risk tolerated by our workers are a direct result of our supervision and management type. It is so important that a supervisor each and every day understand how their people work to achieve the results we expect. By knowing how our people work sends two very distinct messages to the employee. As a supervisor you establish and set the baseline for what work based practices you will accept and secondly through you the supervisor, the employee will clearly understand that we as management, care for their health and safety.

There is tremendous pressure put on us by our clients to perform and deliver results. But safety is not about numbers, we all know numbers can mean luck when we measure our safety performance. To understand safety is all about knowing how you or your workers have achieved those results. If we know how we arrived at the end result then we can make the right changes for a safer work place and help us eliminate injuries in the workplace.

Neil George, inventor of the 5 point safety card, and the 5 th point asks the question “Can and will people continue to work properly?” By not knowing how our employees work to achieve the results means we cannot safely answer this question. If you can answer yes, then as a supervisor you will develop the confidence and trust in your people through observation that they will continue to work safely and deliver the results you expect both in safety and performance.