Canadian Occupational Safety

12 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com LEGAL CONNECTION I COMPENSATION WATCH BY ALAN QUILLEY TRAINING I t's a challenge managing people." O en I hear supervisors, safety practitioners and leaders say these very words. In fact, some communicate their frustrations in much more colour- ful language. e very reason humans are hard to manage is the very reason that we, as a species, have made leaps and bounds over the past millennia. It is practical risk taking (and sometimes impractical risk taking) which has been responsible for some of the most important devel- opments in human history. at being said, let's look at some of the ways we can improve the chances for compli- ance with safety creating activities, work procedures and processes. ere are some proven and practical ways we can help ourselves and fellow humans work and play safely. TO DO OR NOT TO DO A er we develop the knowledge of how to work safely and we go on to gain the skills to do our works tasks, there are two important questions to ask our- selves and others: What happens if I follow the proce- dures or process? What happens if I don't follow the procedures or process? e work procedures, if they were developed well, will allow us to accom- plish our jobs safely, effi ciently and eff ectively. When done well, the out- comes of following the prescribed and established process will be seen as positive by people involved. ey will be motivated to continue to do the task in the prescribed way because of those positive consequences. Unfortunately, when people don't follow the rules, process and proce- dure, the consequences are reinforcing a negative behaviour. For example, typi- cal consequences of not following every step in a procedure that may be viewed as positive are time savings, conve- nience and comfort. O en, the process requires people to do something but they may soon realize no one is actually watching or caring if it is accomplished. e following personal experience is a very real example in which "what happens next" actually worked against the chances that anything positive would be accomplished. I was facilitat- ing a workshop for a large number of frontline supervisors, and I asked them about their established assignment to do daily safety inspections. It was well documented in their safety manage- ment procedures manual. Right there, in black and white, was the directive, "Supervisors will perform regular safety inspections of their areas which are appropriate to the work process and associated hazards." When I asked the group, "What hap- pens to you when you don't do safety inspections of your worksites?" a very reluctant, "Nothing," was the answer anonymously uttered by one of them. When asked, "What happens to you when you do your safety inspections?" another anonymous voice said in a much louder voice, "Nothing!" It's pretty clear, if we think through this story, that if humans are assigned a task and they are never asked if the task has been completed, they tend to think the task must not be important to those who assigned the task. People will soon stop doing the task once they realize their time is better spent on tasks others are counting on them to do. It becomes pretty obvious that it can't be that important if no one ever wants to know if it's been done. Rules that are not supported by defi ned measurement that ensures they are followed tend to disappear into the "safety culture." It tells the people within the culture that the rule is unimportant. How could they be important if no one is measuring and reacting to the task being done? TRY THIS When we assign a safety-creating task — be it a work procedure or per- sonal protective equipment rule — we need to ensure there is a system that reacts to both human compliance and non-compliance. ere needs to be a consequence for both possibilities. If there is no identifi ed process of mea- surement and consequence, the rule will be ignored just like it was with the supervisors not doing their safety inspections. Next time you develop a rule, pro- cedure and/or work process, ask the people involved in doing the task these two important questions: What should happen when you do the task and what should happen if you don't? en set up a measurement and a consequence to match the importance of the task. When you start to manage people this way, you'll fi nd it less frustrating and more successful in getting these tasks and behaviours accomplished. Be consistent in checking for qual- ity and quantity of the task and provide positive feedback and coaching, as necessary. Over time these important tasks will become somewhat habitual with the people required to do the task, and they will continue to do them because they know they're important and that someon e is counting on and measuring completion. Go ahead try it — it works. Alan Quilley is the president of safety man- agement consulting fi rm Safety Results in Sherwood Park, Alta. Visit his blog at www.safetyresults.wordpress.com. What happens when I do, what happens when I don't? Assigned tasks need measurement and consequences to ensure success "

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