Any safety pro who is also a parent will know exactly what I am discussing with this week’s rant. As parents who are leaders in safety, we have all seen it and experienced it firsthand throughout our careers.
Every child will be different (even within the same family and home environment), as will every facility within an organization. But how we deal with our “children” (and the manner we build a culture of safety) is basically the same:
1) Build trust
2) Build credibility
3) Establish behavioral boundaries and expectations
The first two are the simplest but, for many organizations – the most difficult.
Anyone who has been involved with a child who has been abused (physically and/or verbally) understands the damage that has been done to that child’s ability to trust anyone. And don’t think that adults respond differently in the workplace; adults are more perceptive to the abuse than a child, as the young child knows nothing more than the abuse.
