Safety is Boring
I was at a site this week & I had a chat with a couple of the people that worked there & they said to me that they really enjoyed listening to me because my sessions were interesting, informative & they felt like they were part of the session, and that they were not just there because they “Had” to be there!
Now firstly this was a compliment, I have been to this site a couple of times now so most of the employees have met me before & knew that I am not a “Safety” guy.
So let’s see what we can do to make safety interesting, add some stories, ask for opinions on any safety issue, and have a laugh when discussing safety….. You will remember it better.
Here are my tips for making a safety discussion memorable:
Keep it real, don’t use words or phrases that you don’t use in everyday speech
Don’t over complicate it, some people feel they need charts or statistics. You don’t! Just state the facts.
Have a laugh, I know safety is serious, but we should enjoy our job! Why can’t we have a bit of fun when discussing safety
Involve others, share each other’s experiences, at work & at home. If your kids fall off their bike tell your workmates about it, the more we share experiences & how it impacts us the more informed we are to try to stop it from happening again.
Be positive, don’t just drone on, if you are delivering a message try to make it sound like you care! Don’t just read it off the sheet…. I hate public speaking, most people do, but you need to make your message sound like you really believe it.
James ‘Woody’ Wood
