Do Me a Favor - Safety

My first job right out of high school was as a machine operator in a machine shop. I hated wearing my safety glasses and often removed them. Like many other employees, I would be on the lookout for the boss so I could put on my safety glasses before he could see I wasn't wearing them. They were uncomfortable, got dirty easily and once nearly caused me to have some eye damage when a string of metal coming off of an engine lathe wrapped around the glasses and ended up poking me right under the eye. Of course I always mentioned that one incident when my boss scolded me for not wearing the safety glasses. After each scolding I would consistently wear my safety glasses -- -- at least for a little while.

My boss lived in our neighborhood and knew my family for about five years. Indeed that's how I got the job. His company was looking for machine operator trainees and I was right out of high school looking for work. It was a good company and I liked the job. I just didn't like the safety glasses. But he finally found a way to get me to wear my safety glasses voluntarily and permanently.

One day he caught me not wearing my glasses again. Looking at me right in the eye and talking to me in a quiet voice, he said: "Do me a favor. I don't ever want to tell your mother and father that you lost an eye because you weren't wearing your safety glasses. I've been friends with your parents for a long time, and having to tell them something like that would bother me greatly. Please do me that favor and wear your safety glasses. For me." I never took the safety glasses off again.

The technique he used is called moral suasion. It's the idea of convincing someone to do something right, not because you have power and control over them, but because what you say makes sense and the listener respects you as a leader. And that last part is the key to moral suasion. The more a person looks to someone as a leader, the more a person admires and respects the person providing the moral lesson, the greater the chance the listener will be persuaded.

About Pelleyblog: Pelley blog includes daily posts of topics of interest to supervisors and other first-line managers in the New England area, although managers at all levels and from all locations are welcome as readers and are encouraged to join us through comments and the submission of issues and articles of interest.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.

Lost Time Due to Accidents Not a Good Goal

I hope that title got your attention. Lost time due to accidents and recordable incidents are not good goals. At least for first-line managers and supervisors.

An effective goal always involves something a person can directly control. And first-line managers have very little control over the fact that some people will do very stupid things. For example: I know a lot of licensed electricians. To a person, they all tell me never to work on a 110v (household) circuit without shutting off the electricity at the panel. But it is a very rare electrician who would actually do that themselves. I've challenged them on that. Their response: "Well, I'm a licensed electrician. I know what I'm doing." Oh right. Now ask them if they ever get zapped and see what you get for an answer.

Over the years I've also seen, and I'm sure you've seen people do things they're not supposed to do. Operating equipment without guards in place. Not watching where they're going. Not paying attention. Showing off. Not wearing safety glasses. Or hard hats. Or seat belts. Or dust masks. Not cleaning spills in the cafeteria. Leaving boxes of paper in the aisle in the office. And on and on and on.

Yes, it is the job of any manager to make sure these things aren't happening. And if the manager pays attention to these things we might see a reduction in recordable incidents. But it is very difficult to measure the effectiveness of the manager paying attention as a direct correlation to recordable incidents.

Its far better for first line managers to set safety goals that can be directly measured as having been accomplished. For example, a supervisor might set a goal to install eight safety guards. Or a supervisor might set a goal to conduct 12 training sessions, one a month, on 12 specific safety topics. Or a supervisor might set a goal of conducting a monthly safety audit in the office based on a checklist with numerical scores. These kinds of safety goals are more direct, more tangible, and easier to control than recordable incidents.

On a different note, it seems companies use lost time due to accidents to measure the severity of an injury. But the fact is that the amount of time lost is generally set by a doctor, and possibly may bear no resemblance to the extent of injury. I once went to a doctor for a tetanus shot because I stepped on a nail. I couldn't believe it when the doctor recommended that I take two weeks off from work because of it.

I believe recordable incidents and lost time due to accidents are acceptable as strategic or tactical goals for a company, as long as we understand that some elements of those goals are out of the direct control of the management team. I also believe that all managers should be charged with direct responsibility for being on the lookout for safety issues and violations, and for taking immediate action on those issues and violations, as part of their daily operating routine. But I also believe that first-line managers are better advised to set more specific and tangible safety goals than lost time or recordable incidents.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
All rights reserved.