Ok, so I turn up at a Workplace & share my experiences….. I’m sometimes on a site for days or even weeks at a time & I get the opportunity to talk to people “Outside” of my presentations. On many occasions I’ll be speaking to someone & they will tell me about something that goes on at this site that they don’t agree with or are concerned about!…… It usually goes like this “James I see people not wearing a seatbelt all the time…..” or “Mate they tell us to stay safe unless it involves production & then we are told to just do it……”
I believe that the reason they share this information with me is because firstly I am independant from their company & they feel that they can share their stories with me without retribution & secondly they can relate to me as I don’t come across as a safety bloke, I’m a diesel fitter who got hurt at work!
But I’ve got an issue with this…… My injury was caused by the CHOICES I made, & I now spend a lot of my time asking people to think about the choices they make! yet people will see a workmate do something that they feel is unsafe, or get told to do something that they feel is risky & they don’t do anything about it!
Here’s what I’ve noticed since I started sharing my message with others…. Humans are funny, most of us are stuck in our own worlds & don’t like to venture too far outside these worlds…… So whilst we see someone do something that we believe is wrong, or are told to do something that we “Feel” is wrong, we don’t say or do anything about it because it will take us outside our “Zone”! Yet we will happily whinge or complain about these issues to people inside our zone (Or people we allow into our zone…. like I get invited into regularly).
I hope you understand what I’m saying?….. So I’m going to spend a bit more time when I share my story now to encourage others to say something if we see someone take a risk, or to challenge an instruction if we believe that it puts you at risk….. Step outside your Zone!
I used to respond well to instructions, so maybe the day I got hurt if one of my workmates had said to me “Woody…. make sure you put your seatbelt on!”….. It could have made a difference?
Woody the Safety Bloke.
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