Today at work, it was my responsibility to be Safety Observer, performing walkdowns in the field to ensure our workers are being safe (we have had a horrendous nine OSHA recordable injuries so far this year). Our motto is that all injuries are preventable, and there are plants and industries that go years with no injuries. We just do not seem to "get it".
The directions for the Safety Observers that came out recently have a requirement to provide face-to-face feedback, positive or negative, verbally to the workers.
The "positive" part is a paradigm shift for us. Typically when we are in the field observing, we observe the positives and move on. Today, I had four positive encounters, going up to workers and giving them the thumbs up signal and saying "good job" on having all the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on, and observing various safe work practices. In every case, the workers smiled at me (usually they practically roll there eyes when you mention you are the Safety Observer, since we used to approach only when corrective coaching was required).
I also made a point of looking up two of the supervisors and providing them positive feedback. One was a return phone call to a note I left, stating I had positive feedback. When he called, I asked how he was doing, and he said "great, I love getting positive feedback for my crew."
Tomorrow at 0730 hours, I report out my findings, and I will be stating that it was my pleasure to be the Safety Observer, and that the smiles and positive feedback is a paradigm shift for us and makes this duty truly enjoyable.
3 comments:
As the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar! It's always been my experience that positive feedback is much more effective motivation than negative. Too bad more people haven't figured that out yet.
Beth
I like that and I try to compliment employees of others
hugs
Sherry
By nature, having run medical practices, I've always been responsible for OSHA requirements. I've given plenty of positive feedback, but whenever I needed to re-educate, no matter what sort of a positive spin I've put on it, someone was always defensive & pissed.
It really isn't a personal affront, but...
~Mary
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