I was always taught from my very first Plant Manager the “standard of safety/risk” is FAMILY. When that manager/supervisor would not think twice of having one of their family members work in their department/unit, they have then achieved the FAMILY SAFETY STANDARD. Now I am not talking about their children, but if they had a teen daughter or son, who was physically capable of doing the work, would they feel they had done enough so that their daughter/son could start work today and they would be confident they would not be injured? Or would they think to themselves…
“I would not let my daughter/son work in that area” or
“I would not let my daughter/son do that job”.
The FAMILY SAFETY STANDARD is the standard to work and live by! NEVER forget… the workers are someone’s daughter/son, mother/father, sister/brother, etc. and they deserve nothing less than our own family!
Granted some employees may be as rebellious as a 16/17-year-old teen and yes we very well may have to stay on them about safety, just like we stay on our kids about cleaning their room(s), driving safely, etc. I understand the frustration with the concept of “we hire adults, why can’t they behave like adults” (e.g. just follow all the safety procedures).
But the fact of the matter is, poor safety practices are a LEARNED behavior and those poor safety practices have been strongly re-enforced with highly desirable outcomes over many years vs. following something like LOTO to clear a jam. To change that mindset/behavior we have to provide constant feedback, mostly positive rather than negative, to support the change in behavior and thinking we desire. In most cases, this change is done on an INDIVIDUAL level. Now imagine a plant with 1,000 workers, does management really think any safety team can change behaviors and mindsets one person at a time? This change has to come about by MANAGEMENT carrying the torch, which MEANS MANAGEMENT must have already completed their “personal change” and fully accepted the “FAMILY SAFETY STANDARD”. When management accepts anything less, the goal of those 1,000 workers achieving those behaviors and mindset will NEVER be achieved.